Contemporary abstract painter Dennis Peak grew up living in many places and among many cultures around the globe. He pursued art at the University of California, Santa Cruz with a focus on ceramic sculpture.

In between Peak’s day jobs as a carpenter and tiler, he sculpted large, wall-mounted fired clay commissions. At one point he decided to paint these sculptures rather than glaze them. What began as an experiment with layers, colors, and lines led him to sell his kiln and clay tools and begin painting with acrylics on canvas full time. His abstract compositions are informed by his life-long interest in structure and a curiosity about what holds things together.