Ben Stallman is known for his fine art wood burnings and his custom guitars. His works focuses on exploring the details of Western subjects hand burned into wood panels. Translating memories of his youth from the flow state of physical work throwing hay bales into meditations on related subjects, he renders one mark at a time through heat and wood smoke, pushing the historically craft-oriented medium to true fine art.
Colorblind from an early age, his artistic instincts naturally gravitated to monochrome studies in texture and value. Graduating with a degree in drawing from University of New Hampshire in 2013, he pursued a career in project management until he was introduced to woodburning by a tattoo artist, and formed an instant connection with the medium.
Wood burning’s inherent challenges of an unforgiving process and its physical feedback presented a unique surface to “draw” upon, and encouraged a deep focus with each burned mark. The process provides an escape from the hustle and bustle of life, a medium to get lost in fully as he works.
Stallman’s works encourage his viewers to slow down as well. Each piece invites its viewer to look closely and observe the tiniest of details, a practice that’s uncommon in our day to day world of social media and the next trend.
Ben works and resides in Austin, TX with his wife Erin and their infant daughter.
Cracked leather on a pair of chaps. The tooling on a saddle. The folds in a denim work jacket. These details are what make me want to pick up the wood-burning pen, and are what this series is all about. This series is me finding out how far wood burning can go into realism, with my love of textures, fabric, and surfaces explored fully, asking the viewer to take in each stitch, scuff, and fold.