I discovered the work of Benjamin Craven on Instagram and I immediately wanted to know more: it is a young man who feels the influence of the eighties in the patterns he designs and then translate into graphics silk screen printed on fabric, wood and other materials, digital prints and two-dimensional sculptures.

I contacted him and asked some questions to find out more.

Please tell me something about your background: where are you from, what did you do before, …

I’m from a city called Leeds in West Yorkshire. I’ve always been interested in all kinds of art and design, I used to run a small clothing brand for a few years, which I started when I was 16. Then I went on to study Printed Textiles & Surface Pattern at Leeds College Of Art.

What about the concept of your graphic works: I noticed they seems to be abstract but actually they are not abstract at all, as you name them with very figurative titles.

They are whatever you make of them. I love hearing what people have to say about some of the random compositions I do. I tend to name them to what I think they look like or depending on what texture or photograph I’ve used within the piece. A lot of the time I’m inspired by artificial colours and everyday textures/structures. Recently I’ve been concentrating on more objects rather than spontaneous compositions.

Which is the main influence? Which are your favourite techniques?

Like I said: colour, textures and architecual collisions.

My favourite process is screen printing by far. I don’t do enough of it anymore!

Creating structures is always fun to, I don’t plan much of my personal work so the final response is always a surprise.

You have just launched a webshop too, where you sell digital prints: what will come next?

Are you already working on something new?

Yes I have indeed, this was just to get the ball rolling. I have so many ideas that  want to push but it’s just time, money and planning. I don’t want too say to much as I want them to be a surprise, but I do want to start my own homeware brand in the near future.

So interesting, thanks for sharing! I think many people is now starting to appreciate your work: are you starting new collaborations too?

Yes, I’m very grateful for the attention I’ve received in such a short amount of time. I’m doing a few collaborations and I have some cool freelance stuff I’m working on to.

Thanks Benjamin, personally I love your collaboration with Tishk Barzanji, which is now available on the shop: I’m sure I will hear a lot about you in the coming months!