Ben Tour - Swallow Road
Swallow Road
Mixed media on wood, 30” x 28”
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For this show, I returned to looking at my sketchbooks and sticker designs from the late 1990’s and early 2000’s when I made more observational art of my surroundings. My piece “Herzog House” was designed from that time, inspired by the Vancouver photographer Fred Herzog. I find a connection to his works’ mood, isolation and the irony of dilapidated old houses worth millions in today’s economy. Sticking up stickers or ‘slaps’ has always been a part of my art practice and I wanted this work to mimic the look of stickers on mailboxes and street signs, but larger in the clean gallery setting. The subject matter pulls from my usual illustrated icons — stylized skulls, animals, flowers, female portraiture and nudes, all inspired by those same sketchbooks that were my original artistic outlet.