South African artist Ben Orkin explores nuances in his relationship with his first solo show at WHATIFTHEWORLD Gallery. The 21 year old multidisciplinary artist has seen success in the midst of his Fine Art Degree and is widely celebrated for winning best new talent at the 100% Design fair, South Africa. His series of sculptures reflect on his position as a queer artist and how love is explored in its many shapes and forms. Ben continues to push the limits of sculpture finding healing and understanding in his own creative practice.

What was your first memory of wanting to create art?
I’ve grown up surrounded by people making art, like my mom, who is also a ceramicist; all of her friends, and the studio she would work in, my granny, who is a painter and sculptor, and my uncles and aunties who are also creatives. I remember being in art class at school and we had to paint a picture of the career we wanted to be and I painted an artist ,except I never believed I could be that because I didn’t think it was possible and I also thought that all artists were a little crazy because at that time I thought my granny was a bit crazy with her work sometimes, but I think I’m also probably a little crazy to some people too!

Congratulations on your solo show at WHATIFTHEWORLD gallery. Tell me more about the concepts you worked with in this exhibition?
Thank you. That was my first show at a gallery and I’m just so proud to be in that space. The works I made were based off a poem I wrote which is also the title of the show ‘You told me you didn’t know who you are but I told you I love who you are so I asked how you knew you loved me if you didn’t even know who you are.’ To me it was basically about being in and coming out of a relationship where both partners were very dependent on each other for very different reasons. My understanding of that space was that one partner needed to be loved, supported and nurtured in order to better love themselves, while the other partner needed to be needed to feel validated in some way. So the works sort of talk about an intense dependency and oneness but also resistance and difficulty between partners.

What experiences have challenged and moulded your creative work for this show and your creative work in general?
I would describe myself as an introvert who observes the world and then quietly processes these observations alone. This quiet processing is often something that I do when I’m working in my studio with clay, which can be very therapeutic. So, I’m constantly absorbing my surroundings and listening to what is happening around me and without even knowing, these things affect who I am. So I would say that creating my work is a process of healing and understanding things ,which I don’t understand at first, in a creative way.

Does your upbringing in South Africa have an influence on your work?
I’d say that being and studying at the Michaelis School of Fine Arts has definitely shifted my art making practice. In my opinion we are currently going through a very important time in history, particularly in South Africa’s history. Our education is slowly being shifted away from a Eurocentric understanding of everything towards something new, and we’re beginning to ask questions like why we have only thought things in a very singular way for such a long time. Obviously I have to understand my place in this as well as a white artist, but what the experience has taught me is that it’s very important to make work that is relevant to you and that tells your story. We are trying to move away from the times when people would speak for people who they knew little to nothing about.

Why did you choose the medium of sculpture?
It’s not really something I can explain; I just understand sculpture better than I understand creating two dimensional works.

You are currently studying Fine Art at Michaelis School of Fine Art in Cape Town. How do you manage balancing the demands of University and the pressure of staying relevant in the art world?
It’s so tough sometimes because at the moment I’m just a little overwhelmed. We’re writing a mini thesis for one of our courses, which I have found exhausting and draining of my creative energy, but at the same time I’ve got my first show up at a gallery and I’m obviously very excited about that. I guess I’ve just got to stay in the moment and balance my energies but I do enjoy working hard which helps.

How do you see your creative work evolving in the future?
I’d love to really push the limits of ceramic sculpture and go beyond what I know now and learn more. Ceramics is a very humbling process because you never really have full control over what you are making and so you can never really know how something is going to turn out. I’d like to continue not knowing and learning from that not knowing.