BENJI THOMAS

Benji Thomas is an artist originally from London, currently based in St Leonards. He works with painting and drawing media, tapping into the mystery and intrigue that lies below the surface of our everyday spaces. “Everyday scenes have always been the most interesting subject for me - nondescript corners of the world, arranging themselves arbitrarily, can create some of the strangest and most stirring images. On one ten-minute walk there’s an infinity of discoveries to be made. It’s all about being curious with the world, reacting instinctively, and finding new ways of seeing.” Benji graduated with a BA from Loughborough University in 2018, appearing on Landscape Artist Of The Year during his degree, and currently studies with the Turps Banana Art School. Originally from Bromley, Benji moved to St Leonards-On-Sea during the pandemic, where he began creating coloured pencil works based on his immediate surroundings. The moments Benji finds, photographs and eventually draws from tend to fleeting. They exist between where you were and where you’re going, universally ignored and obliterated by the transience of life. Discovering pockets of unseen magic, the surreal within the painfully “real”, and amplifying those qualities through the act of image making, defines his practice.