Ben Sewell

A native of Australia, Ben Sewell studied at the Canberra School of Art, Australian National University. In 2006 he received the Tom Malone Prize, as Australia's top glass artist. He uses a blown form as his canvas, on which he engraves his designs, exploring the relationship between opposites, presences and absence, surface and void, working on the surfaces of either side of a piece to create a sense of the various parts becoming unified as one.

As noted by the judges in the Malone catalog: "Benjamin Sewell's work is immediately, though quietly, captivating. Poetically meditative, it is a perfect distillation of the experience of looking at nature. The work's carefully, hand-rendered surface activates the entire vessel to draw the viewer in, cultivating a rich and intimate relationship with the work. Close observation reveals subtle dynamics between surface and depth, form and colour that change as the light changes. Like nature, therefore, this is a work that unfolds over time, settling into nature's space and pace."