Benjamin Paul Gallagher - Artist

As an artist I make observations of our built environment, the way we used to build; the way we build now. I analyse buildings, both old and new. Be they serious and considered or rustic and humble. I find intrigue in the process of their construction, the decisions made on their behalf, on behalf of the culture they inhabit. I take influence and I take head. 

Studies in architecture and industrial design, the rigid efficiency of that tutelage set against my working life as a heritage roof slater and copper-smith have enabled me a unique perspective. The charm and romanticism of a Victorian handrail captivates me in equal measure to the form-finish surface a brutalist wall. 

With this grounding and a gently absurdist attitude I try to predict through my art how we may build for the future. In most favourable light I am driven conceptually by thoughts of regression. When culture, resources and ideas have run dry, might our best move forward, be taken with a view to the past? To this end, I have developed a fictional construct called ‘The Wooden City’. It’s a modernist beacon and sustainable presence that guides my practice; in turn feeding it ideas whilst informing my aesthetic values. From within, my work offers an austere and efficient resolve for our times. One that utilises traditional craft and trade skills to encompass sculpture, illustration and painting, jewellery, furniture, leather and tableware rendered in materials that will age with grace to endure the centuries that have inspired them.