To take a laser and cut through the mountains, beach and ocean, and then take a 3d snapshot of what has been resected, becomes a glimpse of the glorious and gorgeous artistic effect of Ben Young’s sculptures. To make real his fascination for the natural world, but also man’s role in how it is interpreted, layered glass, concrete and different types of bronze are used by this self-taught artist from New Zealand.
Youngs’ varying bodies of work have been exhibited throughout the world across fifteen years of sculptural design experience. Every one of Young’s shimmering odes to the powers of sea and soaring tectonic protrusions, or, the solidified pulled waters reordered by one’s own gravityless imagination, begin as deeply thought out hand drawn drafts which are made tangible though his favored essential materials.
The miracle of capturing light within a substance makes Young’s use of glass special in the sense that his blocks, or layered curves, take upon themselves the quality of solidified light. The deep rich blues and aqua hues bordered or disrupted by pure concrete makes his pieces framed or readily interpreted by human awareness. Like the discovered geodes that have hidden hearts of crystal within their centers, these diverse works become explanations for what nature can become once human desire and imagination reinterpret it.
