Ben Reid

Ben Reid is a mixed media artist and printmaker whose interest lies in the fragile relationship that New Zealanders have with the natural environment.

The subject of Reid’s work have encompassed hunting trophies, Victorian wallpaper patterns, native flora and fauna, exotic predators, Butcher shop signs, rabbits, three ducks up the wall, wild deer, a lighthouse keeper’s cat and birds such as the endangered Brown Teal and the extinct Steads Bush Wren. Reid brings together a myriad of references that draw attention to the complexity of a relationship with the natural world that has been both exploitative and beneficial to humanity. Reid recognises there are no easy solutions yet his images retain a faith in the redemption of this relationship with nature. 

Reid graduated from Christchurch Polytechnic with a Visual Arts Degree in 2005 and has assisted master printmaker Marian Maguire at PaperGraphica. He exhibits on a regular bases throughout New Zealand, and his work held in both public and private collections nationally and internationally.

 

 

Image:
Title: evergreen
Image:
Title: ruffled feathers
Image:
Title: Chatham Island Taiko
Image:
Title: Time In The Sun, Chatham Island Shag
Image:
Title: silent spring
Image:
Title: landfall
Image:
Title: ratbag
Image:
Title: playing god
Image:
Title: A Bird In The Hand
Image:
Title: following sheep
Image:
Title: Tumu
Image:
Title: badlands
Image:
Title: Buller's difficulty
Image:
Title: Partners in Evolution
Image:
Title: you can run and you can hide
Image:
Title: preaching to the converted
Image:
Title: If I knew then what I know now
Image:
Title: know the price of everthing and the value of nothing
Image:
Title: budgie smuggler
Image:
Title: always to islanders danger is what comes over the sea
Image:
Title: burning bridges
Image:
Title: seal steak and a pleurophyllum salad
Image:
Title: space invader
Image:
Title: twig and twitter
Image:
Title: All at Sea
Image:
Title: High Above the Mess
Image:
Title: an eye for an eye
Image:
Title: burning bridges