"Labyrinth"

One can easily become lost in Robert Petrick’s "untitled"’s kaleidoscopic neon labyrinth of acrylic. However, one does not become lost in the boredom of the familiar but in the excitement of the otherworldly. We so often feel lost in the same boring problems that forever plague our minds, the same irritations of our daily routines, the same empty and meager entertainments and distractions, that stumbling into a maze of the unfamiliar is one of our most exciting, terrifying, and boundary-pushing experiences. Petrick does not invite us into the labyrinth; he throws us in, and our eyes uncontrollably traverse its twists and turns. It attracts the viewer’s eyes like a magnet to metal, yet it does not draw their attention to a specific part of the canvas but, instead, to its entirety.