60 - Ben Venom- Hearts Alive

43" x 67"

handmade quilt and recycled fabric

Working with repurposed materials to create textile-based pieces, I contrast the often menacing and aggressive counterculture components of our society with the comforts of domesticity. The reclaimed fabrics used in my work contain a multitude of personal histories and everyone’s unexplained stain, tear, or rip is brought together in the form of a functional piece of art. This collision of traditional quilting techniques with elements tied to the fringes of society re-envisions the story of the material through a softer lens.

Ben Venom is a textile artist based in San Francisco. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally at the Levi Strauss Museum, the National Folk Museum of Korea, HPGRP Gallery, Taubman Museum, Gallery Poulsen, and the Gregg Museum. Venom has been interviewed by NPR, Playboy, Juxtapoz, KQED, Quiltfolk, and CBS Sunday Morning.