Sculptor Profile
Ben Pearce
QLYL, Corten steel
HANR, Bronze
Pearce explores notions of mass and scale, line and shadow, brutalness and beauty within his large-scale monolith works. Made from Corten steel they change gradually over time, responding to the surrounding air, moisture and heat. Pearce wants us to experience how sculpture can make us move and look with our eyes and our physical body. He wants his sculptural pieces to feel effortless in their creation, perfect and seamless. In reality, they require hundreds of hours to fabricate and conceal clever ways of working with sheet steel.
Pearce completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts majoring in Sculpture at Wanganui Quay School of Fine Arts in 2003. Pearce won the Molly Morpeth Sculpture Award in 2014, the No.8 Wire Award in 2016 and the Colin Post Four Plinth Commission in 2022. Recently he was selected as the first ARA recipient which supports artists for a year to focus on practice.
