Daily Inspiration: Meet Benjamin Brockman

Today we’d like to introduce you to Benjamin Brockman.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’m an artist working in traditional printmaking methods, primarily relief and intaglio, but also screen printing. I also have training in painting, drawing, film and video production, puppetry, and theatrical production. I studied printmaking at Oklahoma State at The University of Minnesota.

I taught undergraduate printmaking classes on a graduate fellowship in Minneapolis for two years until graduation in 2012. The following year I was awarded a Jerome fellowship in Puppetry Arts in 2013 and had a three-night run of my live show at In the Heart of the Beast Theater and a one-night group show at Open Eye Figure Theater.

My first solo exhibition was at a pop-up for The Midnight Brigade in 2014, and a second followed shortly after at The Nomad World Pub with support from Altered Aesthetics. In 2016 I was granted a solo exhibition of drawings at Ambiente Gallery in Northeast Minneapolis. I was a core member of North Star Printmakers Studio from 2013-2019 where I designed and instructed community classes and introductory printmaking methods.

As a member of North Star, I was active in the North East Minneapolis Warehouse Arts District and showed routinely with the North Star Coop as well as the Otherworldly Artists Collective. I have run my own online business selling small hand-made goods such as t-shirts, paintings, and relief prints since 2016. I have worked in behavioral health as a Volunteer, Care Coordinator, Peer Support Specialist, Recovery Coach, and Artistic Behavioral Health Specialist in the greater Twin Cities Metro and Tucson.

My family and I relocated to Tucson in 2019, just before the pandemic, and since then I have been showing in small curated exhibitions at Cube Colony Artist Studios, as well as larger group shows at Steinfeld Warehouse Community Art Center and regularly at &gallery on Historic 4th Avenue Downtown Tucson. Since relocating to Tucson I have created several temporary, private, and commercial murals, and have focused on creating small handmade prints for sale in my online store.

My work revolves around themes of environmental devastation and the regrowth of nature in the wake of human displacement. My imagery tends to include apocalyptic imagery combined with symbols and figures that represent hope for the planet after people. My small works for sale are often depictions of endangered pollinators or other regional animals and insects that draw my attention.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I’m compelled to make art by some force I’m not sure I understand – but I don’t worry too much about the why. I think people get into creative jobs, hobbies, and interests for lots of reasons and I think everyone who does it long enough and tries to carry it out into the work far enough, will be met with resistance and frustration at times.

I don’t necessarily think it should be that way, but culturally we aren’t in a place yet that values creatives for what they are, and we force them to be slaves to trends and responders to cultural shifts rather than the genuine progenitors of change. I say this because the act of creativity is perfectly safe and preserved when done for genuine reasons, but when money and stature come into play there’s an enormous amount of frustration.

Just like any other endeavor – the cards are stacked in favor of the artist who comes from money or whose personality or identity is also marketable. It is also the artist who is struggling to break through – to get more eyes on their work, who is most vulnerable to exploitation. Artists at any level of experience should never work for free – yet it is frequently assumed that they will because they need the “exposure.” I have gone for this on many occasions and almost always felt gross in the end. My time as a creative person without much income or my creative efforts is extremely valuable.

If I’m not going to make money on something – unless I believe in it, and WANT to do it for reasons of creative growth, interest, or practicality – it’s better for my soul and more empowering to my muse to use that time making something I want to make. As I write this, I’m preparing to share images of my work, which I have not sold, and which will be posted to a website for free, and simultaneously dedicating the time I don’t have to answer these questions, which I have already answered in a similar article – in hopes of **sigh** exposure.

So yes at this stage I sometimes allow myself to be susceptible to this. It has occurred to me that my time might be better spent finishing work since I’m a stay-at-home parent of two with deadlines. But so strong is the allure of “exposure.” The benefit to my creative ambitions is foggy – yet it is immediately clear the benefits to Voyage – when something is free, you are the product being sold. I’m still writing because as jaded as this attitude might sound and as well-meaning as the publication might seem, I value the opportunity to speak clearly about what creatives deal with – because it is a personal, practical, and spiritual affliction as well as a point of privilege.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I make art about everything. Like….everything. I gravitate toward symbols and images that represent hidden things. The things behind the surface are obscured from everyday eyes. Most people are deeply afraid of death, for example – and prefer paintings of something pretty on the wall than anything that reminds them of this great unifying theme – we are all going to leave our bodies one day, and we’ve been taught that this is a taboo subject and that the worst thing that ever happens to us is losing our loved ones to death.

The conditions of that death are almost always worse than the actual death. That part is exquisite. I read that Muslims wash the bodies of their dead loved ones in a final loving and celebratory act – to prepare them for their new journey. I prefer that – to shoving a body in a box and dressing it up like it’s going to work. We’re taught that the corpse is a foul breeding ground for disease and more death, when in fact it is the miraculous result and testament to life – and ironically a great breeding ground for more life.

My point is – when I make an image of an insect, it’s impossible for me not to think about death and life in the same context, because the most beautiful creatures – which are all around us, which we build homes and fences and traps and poisons to keep away from us – they already have these extremely short lifespans. No life is more precious when you consider the amount of time an insect has to live and experience the spectrum of insect experiences. Yet we think human life is the most precious. My work and thinking are fraught with these paradoxes.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Read books – at least look at them.  Seek out outside perspectives on what you do. If you admire a person or a quality they possess, don’t go on thinking you can’t achieve these qualities. Emulate people you admire. That is not to say you should betray yourself – I spoke of paradoxes before and will continue to. Your self-esteem in any area of your life professionally or not will grow by esteemable acts – and this may mean things are uncomfortable, scary, unpleasant, or that you may have to admit failure, but ultimately the people I admire were unafraid of failure, and did not compare themselves to others in the way most people do.

They emulate good qualities and they do things that they may at first not believe in, but those things frequently yield the greatest rewards. I’m still a work in progress. My creative work is still in progress. Don’t view any work of any artist as perfect – and don’t confuse perfectionism with high achievement. Lastly – find other artists and creatives that you can talk to openly. And get a good therapist. I recommend this to anyone regardless of if they think they need it or not.

Engage your community. This is how the artist is in opportunities. 90% of anything is showing up – in person. Your social media alone won’t get you there unless you pay out for that exposure or are a dedicated influencer type. It’s a great tool, but people remember people who show up, again and again. More than anything – make as much art as you can. Try to see things through to finish the product when you can and don’t compare yourself to others. Your journey is yours – it’s not going to look like anybody else’s.

Contact Info:

• Website: benjaminbrockman.com
• Instagram: @brockchop
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheSacredTrust
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-davis-brockman/
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/atangsula
• Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheSacredTrust

Image Credits
The Sacred Trust Studio