Before focusing on his own artwork full time, Ben has contributed to the set dressing and background artwork for many large scale feature films and music videos. His first, many years ago was for the Street Fighter movie!

To keep his creativity flowing, he likes to get outdoors and paint murals – a nice change from the many hours in his studio. On the weekends, you can even find him DJ’ing at various spots around Brisbane.

You can see some of Ben’s latest work at Outpost, Cockatoo Island, in Sydney. This massive art event is only on til 11th December – if you’re in Sydney, get along to this!!

Ben is also working towards the collaborative exhibition, Seven with Another, in February 2012.

Follow Ben’s latest work and projects on Facebook, and pop over to his website for much more of his fantastic artwork.

How have you got to where you are today?

I’ve been drawing and painting with oils since early childhood. In my teens I was an active aerosol artist and decided to complete a BA in Visual Arts. I then travelled and lived in Japan for a spell before returning to complete a Master of Creative Advertising.

I came to the realisation that my heart was truly in painting and I have been seriously working on exhibitions ever since.

In a few words, describe yourself…

There are no words.

What are you spending your time on at the moment?

I just completed curating a show called ‘etcc’ which traveled as an official sideshow to Semi-Permanent. It involved 3 huge shows stretching from the first show in Sydney, which was remixed for the second show in Brisbane by local artists, before travelling to Melbourne where it was further remixed by Melbourne artists. Artists involved included Ben Frost, Beastman, Numskull, Shida, Bec Winnel, Lister, Cezary Stulgis, Ken Smith, Rinzen… the list goes on… It was mammoth!

I have just completed pieces for Paste Modernism in Cockatoo Island as part of the Outpost Festival as well as a piece for Kid Robot and Laced for a show called Mo’Money Mo’Problems.

Currently I’m spending time on designs for a giant mural for Oxford Art Factory in Sydney as well as working toward an exhibition called Seven with Another where artists are coupled with people from other professions to see what they come up with.

There are a stack of other projects I’m putting together but at the moment I’m really excited about heading to Thailand for Christmas.

Do you have a ritual for getting into the creative mindset? Or a creative process?

For each piece and project it varies but I enjoy putting on great music, having a really great idea before I start and not over-thinking it. In reality that’s pretty rare though. It’s a case of starting /stopping / painting over pieces/ over-thinking/ over-working and ending up starting from scratch.

What or who inspires you?

My wife, new art materials, vinyl records and furry animals.

What are you most proud of?

That moment when I know that I’m content and have finished a new piece that I’ve been working on.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I always knew I would be an artist. I used to lock myself away as a child and draw and paint for days on end. That also could have been because I had 3 sisters.