Ben Dickey
Matters of Form, 2026
Sept 1 – November 31, 2026
As a photographer, I am keenly interested in challenging the photograph as merely a keeper of records, but rather a transmutable space of evolving memory. Rather than something flat and frozen, I see the photograph as a site of material intervention, sculptural possibility, and shifting perspective.
Each piece in this series challenges the perceived two-dimensionality of the photograph, both in form and subject. A large print on metal of a blurry view of the sea through a window obscures clarity and subject-oriented focus. A light box illuminates multiple overlaid images of broken glass acting both as a sculpture itself, as well as an indicator of photography's conceptual compression of materiality and dimension. An archival print of an oil spill on silver paper highlights more ways to play with reflectivity and light. Finally, a flash-lit image of a tree renders its bark in high resolution, while dust on the negative remains visible, reminding us of the photograph’s physical reality.
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Ben Dickey is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work seeks to understand the relationship between place and identity through compassionate explorations of grief, alienation, and neurodivergence. His art employs multiple approaches, investigating the role of narrative in constructing the physical and emotional spaces of our lives. Grounded in his experience of mental illness and disability, his practice is defined by explorations of trauma, emotional struggle, and environmental precarity.