Grotesquely Playful: Art by Ben Duncan
Omnipotent Riffs, acrylic on hardboard
Our featured artist today is Ben Duncan of Occasional Headbunts. Ben’s grotesquely playful imagery spans illustrative mediums including drawing, painting, comics and sculpture. He has a clean, refined style that takes well to the bulbous, intricate detail that explodes out of every piece.
Ben’s portfolio is stuffed with work, including several short comic stories. His surreal cartoon drawing style is well suited to his mode of storytelling, often open-ended, raunchy or plain bizarre. Ben’s standalone artworks sometimes echo characters in his comic stories, and sometimes explore new imagery, creating interesting and complex narratives on their own.
I like the way that Ben can still explore different styles of working while keeping to his trademark look. The inclusion of Haida motifs is a really interesting and visually effective choice. While his drawings are not always calming or easy to look at, the bright colour, intricate detail, and ambiguous, titillating subject matter is enough to capture my attention.
