A Bird Taking a Shit Like a Dog

Ben Belcher

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Ben Belcher is an illustrator, multimedia artist, and string band musician. He is primarily self-taught across all areas. He began pursuing pen and ink illustration and 5-string banjo around 2002. He is a member of two long-running, internationally touring Americana bands: The Hot Seats, based in Richmond, VA, and The Corn Potatoes, a trio based in Detroit, MI. His musical interests center around Old-Time string band music of the Southeast US. His instrumental skill set also includes guitar, fiddle, and upright bass. His pen and ink illustrations are highly detailed, surrealistic, dream-like scenes encompassing a wide variety of subject matter. There is a pervasive theme of dark absurdity throughout his work. During the pandemic, he procured a jigsaw, and this began a new body of work in which he’s creating multi-dimensional drawings on layers of wood to create shadow box-like scenes. One of Ben’s large-scale wood and illustration pieces won Best in Show at the 2023 Opelika/Auburn Visual Voice Inaugural Juried Exhibition at the Southside Center of the Arts. He maintains a studio in Opelika, AL, and is currently expanding his practice to include printmaking, watercolor, gouache, and acrylic paints.

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