BIOGRAPHY
Ben Allanoff is an artist based in Joshua Tree, CA, working primarily with plant material, found objects, steel, and wire. His work ranges in size from tabletop to large scale installations for public parks, botanical gardens, and other outdoor spaces. Ben’s background includes chairing an environmental non-profit dedicated to minimizing the negative impacts of human activity on the natural environment of the Santa Monica Mountains. He grew up near Philadelphia, PA , and graduated from Duke University with a degree in History.
STATEMENT
Using a combination of figuration, abstraction, and calligraphic influences, I aim to express something elemental in my work, to make the invisible visible. Many of my works are responsive to wind, light, gravity, time, human interaction, and perspective, so that they are highly variable, and do not exist in a static state. I prefer to work with the simplest possible materials and tools, so that the maximum amount of energy is channeled directly into creative work. I am a dedicated proponent of democratic art-making and consumption, and have enjoyed collaborations with children, seniors, prison inmates, horticulturists, park rangers, Zen masters, and fire fighters, among others. Favorite themes include fertility and the interplay between the spiritual, psychological, physical worlds. I am particularly interested in things that are phototropic, as well as things that float, swim, and fly. My work tends to be informed by a deep connection to nature, and a drive to give form to the intangible forces that animate our world. I gratefully and humbly embrace the influence and inspiration of many artists, anonymous and famous, who have shared their work from pre-historic times to the present.
Ben Allanoff is an artist based in Joshua Tree, CA, working primarily with plant material, found objects, steel, and wire. His work ranges in size from tabletop to large scale installations for public parks, botanical gardens, and other outdoor spaces. Ben’s background includes chairing an environmental non-profit dedicated to minimizing the negative impacts of human activity on the natural environment of the Santa Monica Mountains. He grew up near Philadelphia, PA , and graduated from Duke University with a degree in History.
STATEMENT
Using a combination of figuration, abstraction, and calligraphic influences, I aim to express something elemental in my work, to make the invisible visible. Many of my works are responsive to wind, light, gravity, time, human interaction, and perspective, so that they are highly variable, and do not exist in a static state. I prefer to work with the simplest possible materials and tools, so that the maximum amount of energy is channeled directly into creative work. I am a dedicated proponent of democratic art-making and consumption, and have enjoyed collaborations with children, seniors, prison inmates, horticulturists, park rangers, Zen masters, and fire fighters, among others. Favorite themes include fertility and the interplay between the spiritual, psychological, physical worlds. I am particularly interested in things that are phototropic, as well as things that float, swim, and fly. My work tends to be informed by a deep connection to nature, and a drive to give form to the intangible forces that animate our world. I gratefully and humbly embrace the influence and inspiration of many artists, anonymous and famous, who have shared their work from pre-historic times to the present.