Center for LDS Arts Commissions SUU Professor & Alumna’s New Work

Published: July 21, 2025 |
Author: Clare-Estelle Perkins |
Read Time: 3 minutes

Southern Utah University English Professor Dr. Todd Robert Petersen and his daughter, recent Bachelors of Fine Arts Illustration graduate Zoë Petersen, have collaborated on a unique limited-edition artists’ book, The Investigator / The Observer. The Center for Latter-day Saint Arts has recently commissioned the distinctive project that tells two interconnected stories set in a post-apocalyptic world through a collection of tangible, deliberately crafted “found objects.” The combined skills and perspectives of the father-daughter duo result in a deeply tactile and imaginative storytelling experience.

The Investigator / The Observer plunges readers into a world reshaped by global catastrophe. In The Investigator, written by Dr. Petersen, a man discovers an abandoned home in the midwest. Within, he unearths food, scriptures, and journals left by a Latter-day Saint family, a culture entirely new to him. This refuge sparks a spiritual journey that leads to the ruins of the St. Louis Temple.

For this expanded edition, Dr. Petersen created The Observer, a parallel narrative brought to life through a journal and sketchbook illustrated by Zoë Petersen. This companion story follows a young woman journeying east in search of her parents through the detailed documentation of her travels for the unborn child she carries.

“We tried to imagine this: if these stories were real, how would they exist?” said Dr. Petersen. “They would have to be recorded directly by the storyteller. So, we tried to make sure these physical objects felt as if they were coming from an imaginary world.”

The Investigator is presented as handwritten pages on found paper scraps, inviting readers to piece together the character’s narrative. The Observer continues this tactile element with a faux journal and a Coptic-bound sketchbook as well as additional elements, including a Christmas card and Risograph pamphlets. The entire collection is packaged in a custom, handmade wooden case inspired by vintage military medical boxes.

“While my dad wrote the journal entries, I worked on the artwork for The Observer’s sketchbook,” said Zoë. “This conversation between writing and picture lets both of our perspectives shape the story through the full creative process. The physical objects solidify the imaginary, apocalyptic world the story is from. I think this is especially true of The Investigator. This story was created to look handwritten on found objects, and each object we intentionally designed to give context to the world.”

The project blurs the lines between literature and visual art, inviting readers and viewers to piece together the narrative through the handwritten notes, drawings, and carefully designed artifacts. The physical nature of the collection conveys authenticity in the story and the artists’ overall vision that aims to immerse the audience in this imagined, desolate reality.

“I hope they feel like they stumbled upon a secret, something set aside by these characters to explain a hard and frightening imagined future,” said Dr. Petersen.

“I hope the readers feel like they are exploring when they open The Investigator/The Observer. We created each piece of the story with lots of intention and room for discovery,” said Zoë.

The limited edition of The Investigator / The Observer is available for $700 plus shipping. The interactive story is also accessible to a wider audience with a commercial paperback edition available on Amazon for $24.95.

About the Authors

Todd Robert Petersen is an English Professor at Southern Utah University, where he teaches creative writing and film studies courses. He lives in Cedar City, Utah, with his wife and three children. In 2018, Counterpoint Press released a novel in stories called It Needs to Look Like We Tried and Picnic in the Ruins, a dark comedy about antiquities theft set on the Utah/Arizona border, came out in 2021.

Zoë Petersen is a recent graduate of Southern Utah University with a BFA in Illustration. She has worked as an in-house illustrator for Deseret News since 2021. Her work illustrates the delight to be found in the mundane through a conceptual perspective and textural mark-making. Her work has been awarded by 3×3 Magazine, the Utah Society of Professional Journalists, and the Colorado Society of Professional Journalists.

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Tags:
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Art and Design
Alumni
Art
Faculty
Filmmaking Art and Design
College of Performing and Visual Arts
English

Contact Information:

Brooke Heath

435-586-5400

brookeheath1@suu.edu