Artist Statement
Ben’s work is motivated by a romantic nostalgia and the mysterious aesthetics found within derelict and abandoned spaces / buildings. Through cinematic and historic imagery, the desolate and inhospitable landscapes draw upon post-apocalyptic influences, and notions of a world void of life and in particular human existence. His desire within these works is to build upon a ‘dead narrative’ through suggestive traces within the paint surface- creating an event that has potentially already happened, and what we are seeing is simply the aftermath of that event. Using a palette of bright, sometimes luminous colours, Ben draws a tension between the severity of his subject and the unexpected impact and contrast that the colours deliver. In attempt to disorientate the viewer, the iconography found within the paintings might appear confused or misplaced, thus making it difficult to chronologically pin-point the works and their geographical location. The more detailed areas of the compositions act as a catalyst in energizing the more spontaneous and impulsive marks found. There is also a conflicting sense of order within these gestures- the formal, horizontal and architectural lines, paralleled with the organic fluidity of the paint itself, which in a sense begins to mimic the logic of pattern-making throughout nature.
| | 3 artworks.
|
Size: 33.60" x 36.00"
Price: £500.00
