BEN SEARS: EXCAVATIONS

April 1 - 27, 2018
Opening Reception: Sunday, April 1, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

April 1 - April 27, 2018
Opening Reception: Sunday, April 1, 2 PM to 4 PM
Mingle & Schmooze: Sunday, April 22, 2 PM to 4 PM
Hampden Incubator Project Space:
Ben Sears: Excavations

 

Ben Sears Artist’s Statement:

The drawings in this exhibit are investigations of ideas that I have been working with for the past several years. Each piece begins with an image that has psychological resonance for me. Lately I have been working with empty clothing and stadium interiors as starting points. Through the process of making, erasing, remaking and layering, I start to understand what I am going after. The relationship that I have with each drawing deepens over the course of months or, sometimes, years. By the time I am ready to call a drawing finished it has usually been made and re-made many times. The history of each piece can be seen through the layers of ink, paint and charcoal.

Each drawing that is created, however strange, reminds me of something fundamentally human and relates to my experience in the world. Many of the themes that develop are about core human experience and struggles: Isolation, connection, and self-worth. Ultimately I am pursuing my own inner landscape, peeling back the layers to reveal the secrets beneath the surface of things.

 

Ben Sears Short Bio:

Benjamin Sears earned a BFA from RISD in illustration (1996) and an MFA in painting from the Cranbrook Academy of Art (1999). He is a working artist and has exhibited throughout New England and New York state. He has been teaching since 1999 and currently teaches art at Amherst Regional High School.