Born in Singapore in 1982 to a Persian mother and Chinese father, Ben Ali Ong first migrated to Australia in 1986. Having previously lived in Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, Burma, England, Darwin and Port Douglas, he finally settled in Sydney where he has since exhibited extensively. Im drawn to the work of Eikoh Hosoe, Joel-Peter Witkin, Bill Henson and Antoine DAgata for their darkness and irrationality, as well as Cy Twombly, and Francisco De Goya. The inspiration for my own work is vast and can come from anywhere but is mainly informed by my surroundings, notions of identity and ethnicity and the darker side of human existence, as well as my studies in spirituality. Using film and his own images, he shoots, scratches, scans, retouches, layers and mixes the works, until the final result yields a mysterious and beautiful black and white world. Recurrent in Ben’s work is the negative sandwiching of images, the inscription and scratches within the image and the dreamy textural nature of these works, created to represent the seemingly fuzzy nature of the subconscious. Hence, whilst his works appear to explore darker themes, they are simultaneously disturbing and extraordinarily beautiful.
 
Ben is represented by Tim Olsen Gallery in Sydney.
 
YOUR PREFERRED ARTISTIC MEDIUM
Photography
 
YOUR FAVORITE ARTIST
Cy Twombly, Francis Bacon, David Noonan, Dale Frank, Bill Henson, Antoine D’Agata.
 
WHERE IS MODERN ART HEADED
Technology is changing and obviously influencing different artistic mediums and the way artists work. It’s also making everything more accessible to the masses (especially in photography). I think this will push people to pursue more original or unique means of making there art to stand out from the crowd. I think it makes style an important thing too, everybody is doing it these days so it’s how you do it that counts.
 
WHAT’S INFLUENCING YOUR ART
Just life in general; love, anger, depression, joy.
 
WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEFORE YOU BECAME AN ARTIST
Just being a weirdo.
 
FINISH THIS SENTENCE
THE LIFE OF AN ARTIST…at times, is like being a monk.