Exhibition: Making Meaning | August 1st- September 13th, 2015
ARTIST STATEMENT: These works represent a number of experiments in form, process,
and substance, with the aim to transform humble materiality into content-laden,
yet minimal, works of art. Each of these works, in its own way, embodies
a harmonizing of dichotomies: nature and culture, hardness and softness, decay
and permanence, the compression of the large (paper folded ten times: some 200 square feet of paper condensed
into less than a square foot), and the expansion of the small (Brown Studies, No. 14: After the Snow:
an image of a dirty snow pile transformed into a mountain range).
Employing printmaking and other systematic modes of making, these works fuse
their content with their formal properties, where subtle and nuanced surfaces invite
close and careful looking, and provide a quieted, contemplative space.
ARTIST BIO: M. Benjamin Herndon was born in 1985
in the mountains of Northern California, and lives and works in Providence,
RI. With a background in mathematics, philosophy, and the physical
sciences, Herndon moved to New York City, and in 2012 he received his BFA in
fine arts from the School of Visual Arts. He is currently pursuing his
MFA in printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design. Herndon's
works are held in numerous private collections across the U.S. and Canada.