Bryan Petersen makes mixed media pieces from recycled materials. Printed advertising from tin cans and cardboard boxes provide an encyclopedic resource of visual language to construct narratives with social commentary. Text and imagery in advertising and printed packaging provide color, pattern, and symbolism often with a bias that plays on societies needs and desires. Petersen’s work comments on politics, gender, nature, and the plight of native people. When juxtaposing images, text and found objects, irony, humor, and awareness are the byproduct. The social commentary, personal association, and choice of materials create meaning in the work.