Ben likes to build things up then break them down, creating chaotic reinterpretations of anything from picture frames, to synthesisers for his brother’s band, Vessels, to armies of giant ladybirds. He’s great at screen printing, and his ladybird tote bags are proving very popular in our web-shop!
Ladybird Builder
Ben’s most infamous and recognisable artwork is his ladybirds. He has made these to adorn tote bags, t-shirts, a whole Christmas tree and even screen printed lengths of wall paper! With this downloadable and printable PDF, you can collage your own Ladybirds and adorn anything and everything in your home!
Behind the scenes with Ben
At the start of every session, Ben and Carl play ‘pass the poo’, which came about after poo jokes between them. It took a while for Ben to warm up to the plastic poo and was unsure at first, which is why the game of throwing it to each other like a hot potato started. This game is now a ritual and no art can be made until the poo has been passed!
Ben has always enjoyed working with storage that can organise things, like bags and boxes. He started making his own bags from fabric and paper, decorating them with lady birds. This progressed to boxes, which are brightly painted before being collaged. Ben has a large collection of magazines which are stored inside the boxes, but are also used to decorate the outside. Ben is a ‘more is more’ artist who loves creating work en masse – the more the better!!
