Ryan K. Peterson is a local artist currently holding shop at Poor Yorick Studios. His walls lined with sculptures and other pieces of art. What you probably didn’t know is that his work has been seen in dozens of films since the mid-’90s. Working on movies such as “Mortal Kombat” and “Men In Black”, and even having unused works from “Mighty Joe Young” and “Spider-Man”, his sculptures have had an influence both on camera and behind the scenes. Currently he has an exhibition at the Art Barn on Finch Lane, and is preparing for the Poor Yorick open house on March 25-26, but you can read about him and his career ahead of time as he sat down to chat with Gavin Sheehan from City Weekly.

Ryan K. Peterson’s interview on Gavin’s Underground

Gavin: What was your first big motion picture you worked on and what was that gig like?

Ryan: I was first hired in 1994 by a relatively new company called Amalgamated Dynamics Inc. (A.D.I.). It was founded by a couple of talented guys, Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr., who had worked for Stan Winston of “Jurassic Park” fame. They were about to start “Mortal Kombat” and needed some sculptors to flesh out the four-armed character named Goro. I drove out to L.A., got a hotel room and worked on the film for five weeks. It was awkward at first. I didn’t have any of the right tools and had to adjust to the high quality of sculpting that surrounded me. It was sink or swim time. Luckily, after the job, Tom and Alec asked me to stick around. “Mortal Kombat” soon led to “Jumanji” and I was officially living my childhood dream. I’m very grateful to Tom and Alec for giving me my start.

Gavin: For those interested, what are some of your prominent designs we’ve seen in movies?

Ryan: Most of my work has been collaborative so I can’t take sole credit for much of it. The stuff that I think reflects my aesthetic sensibility the best are the Edgar character in “Men In Black” and the demons in “The Devil’s Advocate”. Many of my designs throughout the years never made it to screen. The Green Goblin for “Spider-Man” was one of them. It went out the window when the production opted for a static mask instead of a make-up. But, I must say, the work I lament the loss of most are the designs I did for Rob Bottin’s directorial debut. The movie never happened but I am very proud of the stuff we came up with. Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos. It’s a weird feeling knowing your best work will never be seen.