Menu
The New Contemporary Art Magazine

The Netting Sculptures of Benjamin Shine

In his “Flow” series, Benjamin Shine shapes netting into captivating and serene portraits. The artist, inspired by the concept of mindfulness, has taken this approach to multiple scales. His recent, outdoor "Sky Flow" sculpture "Quietude" represents a shift forward for the artist, influenced by the smaller works before it on canvas. ("Quietude" photos by Mindbodygreen.)

In his “Flow” series, Benjamin Shine shapes netting into captivating and serene portraits. The artist, inspired by the concept of mindfulness, has taken this approach to multiple scales. His recent, outdoor “Sky Flow” sculpture “Quietude” represents a shift forward for the artist, influenced by the smaller works before it on canvas. (“Quietude” photos by Mindbodygreen.)

“The Sky Flow sculpture takes the concept of the Flow series into new territory as a large scale, self-supporting form,” the artist says of the above piece. “Silhouetted against the ever-changing sky, the sculpture appears to change colour from pink to dark crimson, depending upon the strength and direction of the sunlight. The piece is constructed from a steel sub-structure and a large 80ft x 20ft custom made recycled HDPE net, shaped through a process of compressing and folding the material into form.”

See more of Shire’s work here.

Meta
Share
Facebook
Reddit
Pinterest
Email
Related Articles
Katharine Morling's monochromatic ceramic sculptures carefully utilize black lines to create the illusion of two-dimensionality. Morling sculpts mundane objects out of a brittle, white clay, laying them out like still lifes that resemble ballpoint pen doodles on paper. The doodle-like quality is an important aspect of the work. Morling isn't interested in building ceramic replicas of cameras or typewriters: Instead, she reinterprets them with her hands and her imagination, inviting us to consider how the objects that surround us shape our thinking.
Eagles, butterflies, beetles, skulls and human hearts are just a few of the things that British artist Phil Robson, aka "Filfury" has shaped using sneaker parts. The self-described 90s child defines his work as a "a battle of pop culture vs nature", turning his obsession with sneakers, hip hop culture, and our own over-consumption of mass products into an unlikely source material.
Erika Sanada's canine sculptures are both endearing and unnerving. There's something sweet about her ceramic puppies (featured in Hi-Fructose Vol. 31) despite their zombie eyes and pale, hairless skin. The dogs play, wrestle, and cuddle, but the ambiguous details in each sculpture make it possible to interpret their gestures as either tender or malicious, or perhaps a bit of both. Sanada began creating these creatures as a way of coping with anxiety. She says they represent dark elements of her mind she's had to tame. The latest installment of her ongoing, autobiographical body of work will debut in her upcoming solo show, "Odd Things: Daydreaming," which opens November 28 at Antler Gallery in Portland and runs through December 31.
Tennessee based sculptor Matthew Dutton once described his works as "whimsical horrors", animal-human curiosities that are often seen lurking in assemblages of household objects. The idea of material manipulation first struck Dutton as a child, when he would build his own toys out of scrap construction materials and take things apart to see what was on the inside. Inspired by the combinations of human and animal forms that have appeared throughout art history to pop-culture, specifically Jim Henson's creatures in the 80s films Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, Dutton's art employs a hybrid of visual symbols using a multitude of textures and materials. His sculptures are intended to take their viewer on a journey into surreal realms, "a larger world that dwells within their creator".

Subscribe to the Hi-Fructose Mailing List