Ben Topping | 943 Years, 2023

Aquatint

96 x 152 cm

Unique Work

Ben Topping an artist whose practice focuses on printmaking. Ben uses acid etching to capture eroded buildings of the past. His etchings are conceptually connected to ruins due to the degradation the zinc plate goes through when submerged in acid, mirroring the weathering of man-made sites and structures. Ben investigates traditional processes alongside contemporary experimentations, aiming to push the boundaries of representation and develop techniques to replicate the textures of aging surfaces. Working with detailed, free hand line work he depicts the exposed rugged surfaces that he is confronted with when entering the site. The process of printmaking is much like the building of a structure, working through a step-by-step method to arrive at a finished piece. The journey and destruction of the metal plate is integral to Ben's representation of these dilapidated buildings as he is creating a ruin from a ruin. Ben often compares methods within printmaking in tandem with newer technologies, such as scanning and 3D print, transitioning degrading structures into synthetic reproductions.