About Ben...

John “Ben” Gilliam resides in Greenville, SC where he is both a working studio artist and a visual arts instructor at the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities. Originally from Tennessee he moved to Pennsylvania where he received his M.F.A. from Tyler School of Art, Temple University. His work has been exhibited nationally since 1992 and has been featured in Metalsmith and American Style magazines. Ben has also received a number of other grants and awards. In 2008 he was awarded the Individual Artist Fellowship Grant sponsored by South Carolina Arts Commission and also the “Outstanding K-12 Sculpture Teacher Award” by the International Sculpture Society in 2002. He was commissioned to create commemorative bronze plaques for the Mobay Corporation and the Palumbo Center at Duquesne University, both in Pittsburgh, Pa.

About the work...

The fields of jewelry and metalsmithing encompass a wide range of areas, such as, wearable objects, holloware, and sculptural forms, to name a few. I have focused on the use, form and beauty of utilitarian objects by examining and sharing all of these elements .

My work is based on designs influenced by natural forms. Things such as a tangle of vines or a vertebra have alway fascinated me. These are many times simple components whose combinations allow for seemingly complex structures. I try to follow this same idea when constructing my own work.