SPRING RESIDENCY SHOWCASE 2023

Ben Osborne is primarily a printmaker and 2D visual artist from North Carolina. He received his BFA in Studio Art from Appalachian State University, and MFA in Printmaking from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Osborne’s work consists of prints and drawings centered on a queer perspective of the human experience. His work connects the physicality and imagery of textiles to the construction of individual identity.

The work completed during this residency expands my continued practice of drawing. Historically, through the act of observation the artist attempts a deeper understanding of the subject matter. It requires active engagement in order to complete the rendering. In this process of working from life, the completed images reflect the on-going development of familiarity. Drawings such as these are never completely fixed in any state of being, the potential for change always exists. This endeavor follows the concept created by José Esteban Muñoz of the queer utopia, where the point is never reached, but always on the horizon.