Nibiru, 900 x 640 x 290mm, Birch, Plywood, Brass, Wax (photo: Ben Rowe)

Richard Bright: Can we begin by you saying something about your background?

Ben Rowe: I graduated from UWE Bristol with a BA in Fine Art in 2007. Since then, I have been developing my practice and artistic career. I live and work in Bristol from my studio in Spike Island, I am a member of the Royal Society of Sculptors and an RWA Academician.

RB: What is the underlying focus of your work? In particular, what are the thinking processes and knowledge practices that guide your artistic research?

BR: My work focuses on geometric shapes, mathematical laws and patterns found in science and nature. This can range from physics such as orbits, planets and asteroids or biology such as molecules and chemical diagrams. It starts with an idea or theme I find interesting and want to explore, for example ‘black holes.’ I will then delve into a meticulous research process around the theme across many different forms including documentaries, scientific journals & papers, NASA images and astro-photography. The research base is vast and I will often delve into specific areas very deeply. My research process leads towards shapes, patterns and aesthetics that all influence a 3-D version of ‘something’ that starts to form in my mind.

I then start to gather data points or imagery to assist with creating a technical drawing in CAD. I don’t have the end point worked out at this stage – the form starts to emerge through the drawing and design process itself, governed by a few rules and restrictions I have placed upon it from the research or the chosen material. For example, I may insist the entire shape must be formed from triangles linked together.

This drawing becomes my guide as I enter the making process, with all measurements, materials and construction mechanisms calculated.

Vanishing Point, 2.7 x 2.7 x 2.7m, Wood, Aluminium (photo: Ben Rowe)

RB: Have there been any particular influences to your ideas and work?

BR: I used to find inspiration from science fiction, particularly from the 1980’s / 90’s creating replicas and approximations of interesting props and machines found in this genre. I eventually found this quite restrictive and wanted to create my own sci-fi inspired objects and started researching real science instead. I realised interesting patterns and mathematics govern the world we live in and I started to focus in and pull out the often overlooked or un-seen.

For the exhibition Cosmos: The Art of Observing Space, currently on show at the RWA Gallery in Bristol, I collaborated with Amaury Triaud, Professor of Exoplanetology at Birmingham University to research the mechanics of different orbital patterns found in the universe and this was hugely inspirational for me. I liked the way different orbit patterns were determined by very simple rules and measurements playing out in space on a massive scale. I like to bring simplicity within these patterns to the forefront, showing the often unnoticed patterns, lines and shapes of something that appears complex on the surface.

Zephyr, 2.4 x 1.6 x 1.4m, Wood (photo: Ben Rowe)

RB:  You primarily work in wood. What attracts you to this medium?

BR: The materials I use are guided by the work itself, the form and aesthetic I am trying to create. I have always worked with wood whether man-made or natural. I like to explore the materials in a similar way to exploring the themes behind my work. I like the restrictions the materials place on me, in an almost obsessive way, I will always take the more difficult route to creating something, this is a large part of my making process.

I used MDF in the early stages of my career, a man-made board that only comes in sheets. I carved it, sanded it, made it into cylindrical forms, just because I wanted to see if it was possible. I then did the same with another high-density fibre board called Valchromat creating intricate objects from this smooth rectangular board.

When I started to make larger sculptures, I investigated natural woods to survive the weather. I liked the fact this came in lengths, again I experimented with geometry to create circles leading to 3D linear forms forms 2D shapes.

I have recently started to incorporate brass and other metals into my work. I like the juxtaposition of the natural and metallic next to each other and I find as metal generally comes in sheets or tubes – I am faced with the same restrictions to overcome through my making process.

Lost in time & space: Beacon, 2.9m x 2.9m x 2.9m, Wood (photo: Ben Rowe)

RB: can you say something about your use of geometrical shapes and mathematical laws?

BR: My work is primarily led by aesthetics and form. I focus on bringing the overlooked or un-noticed to the forefront in a subtle way. I look for patterns, shapes, angles in everything – I think in 3D even when looking at 2D imagery, I find it interesting and get an urge to recreate it in physical form. These forms can be very complex and only achievable through the use of geometry.

Through my research into physics and space science, I have discovered that the universe is governed by mathematical laws and geometry. I take the mathematics that is at play on a macro scale in space and apply those same laws to my creation process.

Drawing the Impossible; Hexeract, 970 x 740 x 850mm Wood (photo: Ben Rowe)

RB: A number of your recent works have the title Drawing the Impossible, implying the difficulty of representing four-dimensional objects. Can you say more about these works?

BR: Drawing the Impossible is a series of works exploring cubes. Made from straight lengths of material (brass & wood) representing the lines of a multi-dimensional drawing. Adding another 3D cube onto each side of the 3D drawing creates the four-dimensional cube. I then did the same to create a 5 dimensional and finally a 6-dimensional cube.

These are essentially, 3D representations of a 2D drawing of multi-dimensional objects – I have already mentioned I like to make things challenging for myself!

Drawing the Impossible: Penteract, 220 x 209 x 220mm, Brass (photo: Ben Rowe)

Drawing the Impossible: Tesseract, 120 x 120 x 120mm, Brass (photo: Ben Rowe)

RB: Can you something about your works, Cataclysm and Lights End?

BR: Both these works are inspired by blackholes. Cataclysm made from plywood boards; focuses on the spiral shape of the accretion disc that is created by a blackhole as it devours the matter surrounding it. The accretion disc is super-heated plasma, gas and dust, spiralling inward towards the centre of the blackhole. The piece takes the form of a spiral which is encased in a larger spiral and you start to loose track of where each one begins and ends as you look at it.

Cataclysm, 600 x 300 x 680mm, Birch, Plywood, Brass (photo: Ben Rowe)

Lights End made from plywood, brass and birch is a sculptural version of a computer-generated image produced by NASA representing how light moves in the accretion disc surrounding a blackhole. The carved and burnt birch sphere in the centre represents the blackhole centre with the refracted and distorted light beams surrounding it in plywood and brass.

Lights End, 400 x 400 x 400mm, Birch, Brass (photo: Ben Rowe)

RB: In his book, Our Mathematical Universe, Max Tegmark proposes a radical idea, that our physical world is not only described by mathematics, it is mathematics. How does this idea resonate with you and your work?

BR: I absolutely agree with this, from the structures of the tiniest cells and atoms to the largest objects in the universe like a blackhole, mathematics is there acting as the agent of interaction. Not only would these objects, structures and processes not exist without mathematics, they wouldn’t interact, influence or rely on the objects and processes around them either.

Chaos Theory (After Kepler), 52 x 52 x 45cm,Birch, Plywood, Valchromat, Brass, Oil (photo: Ben Rowe)

RB: Pushing the boundaries of the medium is a natural part of the art making process because, in some ways, the artist is exploring the medium itself. What boundaries do you wish to push with the medium that you use?

BR: By taking the laws of mathematics into my making process, I impose restrictions that present challenges for me to overcome. I often want to present the object with the underlying structure or framework remaining visible which creates a 3D line drawing.

To maintain this line drawing form throughout, I use geometry to create complex angles, creating circles out of straight lengths or contours out of triangles. I do not want to bend or mold the material to fit my needs in any way as this will detract from the creation of the framework.

I have to push the materials I use to fit the aesthetic and the engineering aspects of the finished form, as although born from a CAD drawing, I do not use any computerised processes during creation of my work. I take pride in my self-taught skills as a craftsman and believe the sculpture should be born from the artist’s hand.

Chicxulub, 105 x 98 x 18cm, Brass (photo: Martin Edwards Photography)

RB: What projects are you are currently working on or have coming up?

BR: My work is currently on show are the Royal West of England Academy in Bristol in a major new show Cosmos: The Art of Observing Space until 24th April 2026.

I have my annual open studios at Spike Island in Bristol the early bank holiday in May. I am then working towards another group show later this summer in London

Resonance with Origin 3:4, 2026, RWA Cosmos installation, 322x 180 x 132cm, Wood, Birch plywood (photo: Alastair Brookes – KoLAB Studios)

Resonance with Origin 3:4 (detail), 2026, RWA Cosmos installation, 322x 180 x 132cm Wood, Birch plywood (photo: Alastair Brookes – KoLAB Studios)

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https://www.benrowe.org/

All images copyright and courtesy of Ben Rowe

Art, Creativity, Installation, Mathematics, Science, Sculpture, Space