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How Lucy Puls Shaped Amber Peck’s Artistic Journey

A smiling person with short, curly brown hair with purple highlights, wearing tortoiseshell glasses and a pink and black striped sweater, stands outdoors in an urban setting with blurred industrial architecture in the background.

Amber Peck. Image courtesy of the artist.

“I was almost 30 when I started my bachelor’s degree at Weber State,” recalls Amber Peck. Having stepped away from college years earlier to raise her growing family, Peck found herself deeply immersed in the complexities of motherhood. “I was depressed, and I needed something for me. So, I began my pursuit of a photography BFA.”

At Weber State University, Peck encountered a nurturing environment where her creativity could flourish. “I had some incredible teachers at WSU who fostered an environment that was both safe and challenging. I was able to be authentic and vulnerable in my photography. I made work about depression, domesticity, and the complex feelings of motherhood.”

As Peck’s creative practice evolved, she began to incorporate modified found objects into her photographic work. It was during this period of experimentation that she encountered the resin-encased sculptures of Lucy Puls, a Bay Area artist who began using used and discarded consumer items in her sculptural practice in the 1990s.

“Seeing Tonka trucks, toasters, and toys trapped inside blocks of orange and red, I found it compelling the way these familiar objects were confined, away from human touch,” Peck says. “I also felt a real kinship to Puls’ mixed media approach, when her fabric-printed photographs draped from a wall cabinet and wove between chairs. I too wanted to marry tactile elements with my images, and I did.”

In her BFA exhibition, titled Follow, Peck presented a series that juxtaposed poignant photographic images with evocative sculptures, such as a photograph of a mother’s hands braiding hair displayed alongside a concrete-covered plush toy and a broken chair leg. The works resonated with themes of care, labor, and the weight of emotional bonds. “I was so proud of the series,” she says.

A close-up of a hand gently braiding a person's long, light brown hair, with soft natural light casting a warm glow on the strands.

Courtesy of the artist.

A white plaster sculpture resembling an abstract, organic form with a textured surface, set against a plain white background. The shape suggests a reclining figure or a natural rock formation.

Courtesy of the artist.

After graduating she moved with her husband and four children to Brooklyn to pursue a master’s at Pratt Institute. “It was a life-changing experience for our family, and for my artistic practice,” she says. She now works out of her home studio in Davis County.

“Since the pandemic, I’ve worked on things like a cross-stitched garbage can and a large arm/hand made of pillows. And I’ve been photographing weeds.” These projects underscore her commitment to exploring unconventional materials and themes, pushing the boundaries of her art even further.

While she has yet to experience Lucy Puls’ work in person, Peck’s admiration remains steadfast. “Her work continues to inspire me, giving me permission to cross and combine genres,” she says. This permission—to blend, to innovate, to explore—has allowed Peck to create art that feels deeply authentic. “Nothing has made me feel more myself than creating art. I feel my most ‘Amber-y.'”

A mixed-media art installation featuring a weathered metal trash can with pink embroidery stitches forming the words "CREDIT" and "EXTRA." In the background, a piano and colorful textile artwork shaped like a jumpsuit are visible on the gallery wall.

Peck’s “Damaged Receptacle,” 2023, metal garbage can, yarn spelling “Extra Credit,” on view at the St. George Art Museum, November, 2024. Image by Shawn Rossiter.

You can view more of Amber Peck’s work at amberpeck.com.

 

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