Benjamin Howe (born 1977 in London, England) is a contemporary Australian artist is known primarily for his figurative and experimental oil painting.
The paintings document and explore the semi-conscious adaptation to new environments experienced by temporary residents; examining how people move into a space and start to inhabit it.
Embracing a synthesis of both external and internal realities, the works interweave themes of dislocation, habitation and the subliminal response of the psyche towards the unknown.
[2] Cut, broken, compacted and rearranged, they are often unrecognizable in the finished paintings, which are contemplation on the fractured and subjective nature of memory, and the effect it has on the construction of identity.
These paintings address movement within the metropolitan environment, informed by research relating to the examination of aggregate behavior over various duration and viewpoints.
Howe attempts to compress this information into single images by building overlapping layers of paint based on video footage and sequential photographs.
Using the constraints and unique material attributes of paint including layering, color, texture and fluctuating levels of focus, Howe explores conflicting ideas of symbiosis, dislocation and placelessnes within contemporary life and the metropolitan crowd.
Ne Na Contemporary Art Space, Chiang Mai, Thailand 2012 Possibilities, Metro Gallery, Melbourne 2012 Dark Horse.