Booth mainly focuses on the relationship between humans and the environment and humanity's capacity to create and destroy the earth. Booth suffers from limbic epilepsy, which affects the part of his brain that deals with intuition and perception and causes him to experience visions and hallucinations, which is no wonder why his artworks are distorted and somewhat odd. In Booth's works, mutant-like human figures inhabit the landscape and walk alone in isolation, symbolising Booth's feelings towards society. .
Painting 1977, Peter Booth 1977.
Painting 1977 is one of the most powerful paintings in the history of Australian art. Booth used oil on canvas to create this piece, with heavily applied brushstrokes and impasto paint being used to create the harsh texture of the artwork. This technique is highly effective in portraying the harsh nature of war and the destruction of the Sheffield landscape by humanity, which are the main subject matters of this artwork. Painting 1977 shows a pale man with red eyes walking down a path in a harsh environment, the mountains and buildings in the background smothered in scorching red and orange flames. The mysterious man is surrounded by darkness, and the town is shrouded by shadows and smoke. The man walks alone, isolated from society and attempting to retreat from the destruction of the earth caused by his own kind. The use of only browns, reds and oranges in this artwork emphasises the fact that there was no sign of hope and light during the war years in Sheffield besides the light provided by flames as a result of enemy bombs and missiles crashing down onto the city. These dark colours also represent the depressing mood that was present in Sheffield at that time. Painting 1977 depicts Booth's childhood world and what it was like for him growing up in the industrial wasteland of Sheffield. In fact, the figure walking down the path in the painting can be interpreted as Booth being forced to begin a journey into an apocalyptic world as a consequence of humankind's self-destructive violence and greed.
