Benjamin Powell

In my artwork, I seek to explore issues including mental illness, self-perception, and the long-term effects of emotional trauma. Juxtaposing these painful experiences with whimsy alludes to the transition from childhood to adulthood and reflects the unease that things are not always as they seem. 

My artworks, which include video, animation, and projection mapping, share stories primarily through emotions, rather than specific events. I create the visual and sound design in my work to jointly convey these themes in a way that neither could individually. Color, transparency, and the layering of video connect nostalgia and the impermanence of memory while the decay from bright, synthetic instrumentals to distorted vocals and audio feedback mirrors the loss of innocence. 

I hope for people to come away from my work having confronted unpleasant truths about themselves and the world around them, consciously or unconsciously.

Benjamin Powell is a graduate of the Emergent Digital Practices department at the University of Denver. To see EDP’s departmental exhibition, The EDP Virtual Expo 2021, click here.

Benjamin Powell, Afterimage, 2021, digitally animated video

Benjamin Powell, Afterimage II, 2021, digitally animated video