Ben Allen
Bio
Ben Allen MA Royal College of Art. Ben is a multi-media artist. He is best known for his painterly prints of Northern Irish landmarks and for his inventive sculptures in bronze & painted Aluminium. Ben is a member of Belfast Print Workshop & produces prints in many techniques including Woodcut using plywood, plastic, lino & MDF, photo intaglio, experimental digital & drypoint. His highly collectable prints are to be found at the Yard Gallery in Holywood & Coppermoon in Belfast.
Artist Statement for Compositions Exhibition
Ben Allen will be showing images of singer songwriters. They include John D'Arcy, JJ Gilmour, Andy White and Cara Cowan. All of which are performing live in Belfast in Feb 2010. His images are editioned prints, made by hand one by one using an etching press. Drypoint uses a needle to scratch the image onto the printing plate. Tone is achieved with layers of cross hatching and subtle tones can be achieved by using sandpaper, scraping back & burnishing. He is inspired by artists who are also music fans for example, Peter Blake and Robert Crumb.