Peter Cordova: Solo Exhibition @ Et al.

Mountains, rocks, the sun and the sky, cacti, people and animals populate Peter Cordova’s dense, tightly structured drawings. Cordova’s sculptures animate the people and animals. There are constant inversions of color: one half of the mountain range might be grey on brown, the other half brown on grey; in some the sky is blue and the sun yellow and in others the reverse. The people meld with the animals, with the stones.

Peter Cordova appears courtesy of Creativity Explored. From Creativity Explored:

Peter Cordova (b. 1966) has a decades-long practice specializing in ceramic sculpture and illustration. In his work, his biggest references are his Filipino heritage and his interest in Indigenous American cultures. He is also inspired by nature, National Geographic, and Channel Nine. The brother of a figurative artist, and a proud member of Creativity Explored for three decades and counting, Cordova invests as much time in supporting and amplifying other artists as he spends on his own making. His priority in community-building exemplifies his belief in wisdom as an important resource.

Cordova begins all of his work in pencil, drawing out a grid to orient his subjects. He employs this same method with ceramics, tracing a grid into the clay. His detailed depictions of cultural iconography are illuminated by his application of rich, earthy palettes. In his ceramic practice, Cordova’s hand-building technique emphasizes texture and form, his sculptures often speaking directly to the scenes he depicts in his works on paper. In regard to his artistic career, Cordova states, "I want to speak for myself through my art. I try to share my heritage with other people.”

Cordova has participated in over seventy exhibitions nationally throughout the span of his career. His solo show To the Place Where I Grew Up was exhibited in the Creativity Explored gallery in 2022, featuring dozens of his dynamic works on paper. His work was most recently featured in the exhibition Karl: Unseen Histories: AAPI Voices in Contemporary Art, which was on view at Levi’s Plaza in 2025. Cordova’s work can be found in the permanent collection of SFMoMA and the Oakland Museum of California.