MJ Benson (b. 1967) is an multidisciplinary artist living and working on the coast of Maine. Her work is anchored by the illusory horizon, and addresses the relationships of the earth, sky and water within our human experience. As a painter, she works in bold and expressive gestures and colors, with an emphasis on abstraction rooted by the familiar. Her previous work as a photographer and her extensive plein air painting practice informs larger work done in her studio. She works with oil, acrylic, watercolor and encaustic paint, as well as incorporating earth pigments, ocean/lake water and found objects in her primary pieces. Beyond her of deeper bodies of work in paint, photography and printmaking, MJ is an active explorer of materials. Her recent work includes narrative embroidery and quilting, turkey wing brooms using recycled materials, blacksmithing and blade smithing, ceramics using salt water glazes, and extruded and melted sculptures from plastic and paper packaging.
She has a BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and an EdM from Harvard University. Her work has been exhibited and collected internationally. She is a recipient of a Maine Arts Commission Project Grant for Artists, 2022, and had solo shows at Maine Audubon Gilsland Farm Gallery and the Maine State House for the National Endowment For The Arts Arts In The Capitol Program. She is a Professor in the Communications & New Media/Studio Arts Departments at Southern Maine Community College. More about her at www.mjbenson.com.
[email protected] - @mjbensonartist
Statement
“I begin with the horizon, its ever steady line of delineation between the spaces of land, sky, sea. In between are layers and layers of light and color, sprung from my memory but unbound by realism. I use a framework, a few rules around composition or color, but it’s the tension between what I expect and what the painting is telling me that dictates the flow and finish. I work, and wait, until the profound shifting between place and memory stills itself harmoniously.”