Family: Art as a Narrative

Peter Buban

 

Peter Andrew Buban was born January 23, 1974, in Iowa City, Iowa. The youngest of two sons, Peter quickly took a liking to clay, which would ultimately be the focus of his career, in elementary school when his teacher told the class to make dinosaurs out of clay for a project. This event proved to be pivotal in his pursuit of learning to master ceramics and becoming a potter by trade for many years. Peter is the first professional artist in the Buban family, but he was not without a great deal of influence and support from his family. Outside of family, friends, and teachers, Peter cites his artistic role models as the drawer Raymond Pettibon, Jonathan Borofsky, Picasso, and Marcel DuChamp. Peter also incorporated his admiration for Greco-Roman styles into his pottery.

 

On the topic of family, Peter says, "They definitely encouraged it! Very supportive. My older brother influenced me because he was in high school when I was in elementary school and I wanted to do everything he was doing. He made this huge paper mache head of Pete Townshend and it was the coolest thing. I probably copied a few of the things he did because I wanted to be like him." He also appreciated the continued support of his immediate family when he got his Bachelor's degree in Art from Monmouth College.

 

For this exhibit, Peter Buban was asked if he thought art could connect people, as well as what being an artist meant specifically to him. Addressing the first question, he said, "Yeah, definitely. If you repeatedly do it, just make stuff over and over again it helps form community around you with people doing similar things...keeping in touch with people through art too. Like family, like my nieces. Art helped me make a lot of friendships too, it’s how we became friends." To respond to his personal feelings toward art, he said that process was something that is incredibly important to him. In his words: "It’s like meditation, it’s an outlet for anxiety, all kinds of stuff. Something that makes me feel good doing it."

 

Peter also has a great interest in music; it is a form of art that he has in common with his brother, Christopher, and his nephew, Stephen. He has also won prizes for his art spanning several decades, and has a wealth of experience working in a wide variety of art media.