Meet Benjamin Timpson of Lisa Sette Gallery

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

Hi Benjamin, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I have been working on art as long as I can remember, it is an intrinsic motivation that drives my creativity. My mother taught me watercolors when I was 4 and my father taught me about the universe. I have lived in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Michigan, Nevada, Missouri, South Carolina, Indiana, Colorado and Arizona. I received my MFA from Indiana University and am now an associate professor at ASU in the School of Art.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Moving changes everything, your entire outside world changes. Yes it has been a struggle but art is at my core so I can always depend on that.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I copied this from my gallery’s website, it is the work I am most proud of.

Benjamin Timpson’s luminous portraits are constructed of butterfly wings, each visage delineated through mysterious patterns and complex interplay of color and iridescence. The delicate biological relics are responsibly sourced by the artist, deconstructed according to their unique markings, then pieced over the artist’s rough sketch on a lightbox and photographed at various stages of illumination. Timpson, a photographer who has been experimenting with positive/negative images and transmitted light for over two decades, has become familiar with the wings’ singular physical qualities – the microscopic structures that emit light and color, and the differences in these structures from species to species. The resulting compositions are both enigmatic and uncannily specific; an organic delineation that shifts depending on the viewer’s position as well as the light in which they are seen.

A descendant of Puebloan peoples, Timpson’s transcendent works portray Indigenous women who have been the victim of sexual assault and murder – a population that is four times more likely to experience such violence. Some of his subjects are found through historical research, while others are contemporaries who partner with Timpson to articulate the injury to a community when its daughters and matriarchs are attacked, as well as speak to the beauty of memory and survival.

Timpson sees these portraits as a metaphor for the significance of individual lives impacted by cultural violence, and as a way of examining the horrors of centuries-long exploitation of Native lands and cultures. Yet Timpson considers his work an act of hope and catharsis. The artist remarks: “The butterfly is appropriate because there’s a metamorphosis that takes place with these portraits; my work is about giving voice to the voiceless, and bringing to light the lives of these women.”

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
“Failure is success in Geological Time”. That is my quote about taking risk, if you are not failing you are not trying or taking risks and learning. Also, “Fear is a Choice”. Taking risks is what makes progress possible. And in the song “You know you’re right” by Nirvana, the lyric “I have never failed to fail” resonates with me. It is vital as an artist to take risks.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lisasettegallery.com/artists/50-benjamin-timpson/works/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bentimpson/
• Other: https://www.goodnight35.com/

Image Credits
Under all images can you please put, All images courtesy Benjamin Timpson & Lisa Sette Gallery