Artist in Conversation — The Holy Art Journal
- Ben Sheppee
- Aug 22, 2023
- 2 min read
The Holy Art Gallery published an in-depth interview with me as part of their Artist in Conversation series in their journal. The conversation covered the origins of the practice, the relationship between my fine art and commercial work, and the personal dimensions that drive the typographic investigations.
Origins
I spoke about how the practice began — sketching for a local newspaper at 14, studying at art school, and discovering digital creation through Photoshop at university. The shift toward abstract typography came from a frustration with the constant need to explain the meaning of work in exhibitions. I began using automatic writing as a way of over-explaining artworks, and those writings became textures and layers within the work itself, commenting on the paradoxical nature of communication.
Identity and Language
The interview gave space to discuss something I don't always foreground in exhibition contexts: that the practice is rooted in a personal experience of fragmented identity. Being adopted from birth, with limited knowledge of my heritage, abstract typography works as a visual metaphor for the struggle to put feelings and experiences into words. The deconstruction of alphanumerical forms satisfies a search for hidden meanings, but at a deeper level it resolves an internal battle with articulation — attempting to overcome the restrictions I find in expressing myself through language.
Two Practices
We discussed the balance between the gallery practice and the commercial work through Observatory. I was candid about the fact that living a financially sustainable life as a fine artist is challenging. The commercial practice — creating tour visuals for artists like The Prodigy and Dua Lipa — provides the resources to maintain a personal practice, and the two feed each other. Techniques I develop in the studio, like algorithmic processes for generating compositional variations, inform the commercial work. Technical knowledge absorbed from large-scale projects — VR, AR, LED configurations — flows back into the fine art.
Audience and Resonance
One of the most rewarding parts of the conversation was discussing how the work resonates with different audiences. People experiencing dyslexia have told me the work symbolises the difficulty they face navigating the world. The Syncretic Forms series stimulates conversation about the mixing of cultures and how cosmopolitan communities inspire creativity. These encounters during private viewings drive the practice forward — they help me ask better questions.
