I am a self-taught artist and have felt an almost compulsive need to create for as long as I can remember. What first made me want to paint was the lettering and logos on skateboards and the cover art from punk rock bands. This led me to fall in love with graffiti and street art, and while this was enjoyable for some time, it wasn’t sustainable, and I soon transitioned to more traditional media.

 

For much of my early art career, I worked on my art with little interaction with other artists. While I have showed my work from time to time, I go for long creative periods where all I want to do is make and reflect. Eventually, this begins to feel like a conversation solely with myself, and the need grows to share with others what I’ve made.

 

Coming out of the isolation and creative period of the pandemic, I now feel a strong desire to show my work and share what is, apart from my family, the most important thing in the world to me.

 

Ben Determan works out of his studio in Mankato, MN.