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This started as a
as a little exploration.
And what's so fun about being an artist
is being able to tug on a thread and see where it goes.
This work is
really colorful: marble pieces, text pieces.
It says something, it literally says something.
Oftentimes you have to decipher it.
It's a continuation of
a body of work I've been working on
for a long time, which is text-based art, and trying to,
you know, discover and explore new ways of using
really old methods of print making.
When you drop the paint into the water, it
it hits the surface
and the surface is really gelatinous,
and so it stays floating on the surface.
And then I'm able to manipulate that paint or
just really letting the paint move and react
how it wants to react.
What's fun about it is each time
you do it, it's completely unique
and there is some
level of control, but it's there's a lot of element of play
and chance in it.
My goal is to make it look as weird and colorful as possible.
Almost universally there's a little giggle or a happiness
because you never really know what it's going to look like.
It's a nice one. It's nice and vibrant. (giggling)
It's like...
it's it's this childlike play that a lot of art
processes don't incorporate.
And so it's honestly it's just really fun.
When I'm rolling out the ink on the plate,
I'm just really looking for bright, vibrant colors
that have a layer of transparency
so that you can see through, see the marble, but also like
the words actually pop.
A lot of times I'll give myself a parameter with the words.
Sometimes they are song lyrics.
Sometimes they're something my girlfriend says.
Sometimes they're an homage to my dad.
Like they can be any number of things for me.
But that's why the text is like pretty powerful.
When I'm doing the work, there's,
there's intuition with the colors, there's
foresight with prepping the paper, there is color
theory, there is mechanical with the actual press.
So you're really hitting on a lot of different ways of making.
What's fun about this process, with the marble paper
and the mono print, is even if I've already used
the same text or the same font,
because of the marble paper, each piece is completely unique.
So obnoxious.
What I like to do in all my art practice is like,
try and do something new
and try and take something that's established.
Especially doing printmaking
that has like hundreds and hundreds and hundreds,
if not thousands of years of history behind it.
To do something new feels really fun and unique and
important.
So I'm just trying to discover and to use marbling
in a new way.
Ben's printworks are represented by Davidson Galleries
and you can learn more at davidsongalleries.com.
Catch Art Zone Friday nights
at 8 and anytime online at
seattlechannel.org/artzone.