ABOUT THE ARTIST:

Ben Freeman creates large-scale multimedia constructions utilizing emotionally charged personal objects, such as antique photographs, historical text, diaries, letters and journals. These elements are layered and structured to form a context that transcends time and feeds the human lust for immortality. The multi-media works incorporate a process of photomontage and collage, with large transparent photographs projected and developed directly onto the surface of the collaged underlayers. The lead base of the artwork often has cryptic inscriptions, emphasizing the theme as well as the power of human emotion, and asking questions which, more often than not, require an answer from the viewer rather than the artist.

The process Freeman uses in the execution of this work has grown out of many years of experimenting with various techniques in a never-ending search to better render the feelings he seeks to express. The final result is achieved through photomontage, collage and then projection and development of photographs directly onto the surface of the canvas. The work begins with collaging the basic elements (archival objects such as love letters or antique photographs found mainly through forays in the marchés aux puces in Paris, handwritten text on documents and printed text). Examples of photographs that Freeman uses in his work include film starlets or turn of the century actresses, old class photographs, snapshots from family albums or portraits. These pieces are glued to canvas on a plywood backing using a polymer medium.

The most prominent metaphor for time and memory in Freeman’s work is the use of layering, combining surfaces of varying thickness to suggest distance and clarity of what is recollected.  Several layers of materials are collaged to add a sense of depth and emotional complexity. Handwritten text can be superimposed over them, and once complete the result is sealed with an oil-based resin. The surface of the canvas is then treated with a photo-emulsion, which in essence turns the entire canvas in a light sensitive surface. A chosen negative is then projected onto the surface of the piece and developed under darkroom conditions with photographic chemicals. Monumental images are thus combined with the smaller and more detailed images and text. The resulting image can then be modified with oil colors. A lead base is most often attached, sometimes with a sculptural dimension added by cutting through the plywood backing to create alcoves and then by manipulating the lead itself. Bolts, molding, lace, dried flowers, Japanese papers or other textural materials may be applied to the image to enhance the composition. The thickness varies from the ephemeral effects of lace and gauze to the thickness of cardboard or lead. The resulting artwork is sealed by the addition of an epoxy resin coat, which unifies and encapsulates it.

As Peter Hay Halpert comments in an essay on Ben Freeman, “…his work is an amalgam of techniques, initiated by collaging layers of different elements, such as 19th century photographs or documents, and then overlaying them with projected imagery. As with many contemporary artists, Freeman's art operates on multiple levels. On the one, process is integral to the art. Thus, Freeman’s complex methodology is an essential ingredient in creating an art object. But on another level, it is also clearly a process for grappling with important ideas and emotions.” 

EDUCATION:

School of Design / North Carolina State University

• Bachelor Fine Arts
• Bachelor Architecture
• Master Architecture
• L'Ecole Grande Chaumiere / Drawing, Paris France
• La Foundation Le Corbusier / Atelier Oubrerie. Paris France
• Fellowship program Harvard Graduate School of Design
• WA Residential- Living room piece/sculpture