A lifelong artist, Peder Hagen has devoted the last fifteen years of his practice to developing work about Cressia, a fictitious utopian civilization. Dreamt up in countless sketchbooks and catalogued across hundreds of drawings, Hagen's Cressia is built on four pillars: kindness, compassion, reverence, and recycling. Its inhabitants—people, fairies, anthropomorphic flora, and celestial bodies—enjoy an entirely analog, natural world.
For Hagen, the act of drawing is a bridge to utopia. He primarily draws with gel pens, composing each piece with tight, energetic marks and ornate details. Inspired by renaissance fairs and illuminated manuscripts, each piece is laced with allegory and symbolism. Many of his works are so technically intricate that he may spend over two years rendering one.
In a labyrinth of exquisite patterns and elaborate back stories, Hagen's drawings express a commitment to living a slower, more creative life. “Drawing and doing art – even if it’s crafts – is very moving,” he says. His work makes space for viewers to imagine alternatives to an increasingly digital world. “Some people say, ‘Oh, I want to live in Cressia,'" he says. "I think that people wanting to live in a different way is what my work reflects. It’s not just about environmentalism, it’s about how somebody chooses to live.”
Hagen has presented work throughout the Twin Cities, includingRandomlandat The White Page (2019), Groundswell at Artspace Jackson Flats,Work with Your Quirk at the Bridgewater Lofts (2019), andDots and Loopsat Midway Contemporary Art (2008), among others.
