Dad, Peter Bruun, 1996, 30″x30″, oil on linen

Dad is one of five works by me included in Grace, the inaugural online exhibition for my new digital platform to go live on June 24.

Here is how its story begins:

“She was six years old and something was very wrong.

“On a family ski trip in the winter of 1995, Peter’s daughter Lis was constantly thirsty and had to pee all the time. A worried call to the family pediatrician and immediate urine test delivered a dreaded diagnosis: Lis had developed Type I diabetes, a lifelong and potentially fatal disease.”

I share what happens next—a story of family crisis; of art and grace—in the exhibition.

My art has always been grounded by my personal life; I can imagine it no other way. Art-making for me has been a kind of survival, a way to wrest meaning and hope from even the most despairing circumstances.

Being an artist is an article of faith, with painting an act of faith—art as a prayer asked and answered all at once.

Dad exemplifies that.

—Peter