Submission Drawing

Benjamin Staker

The inner world of the mind defines the structures behind every aspect of life. By
making art, I am visually expressing that world, exploring themes of human anguish and
emotional turmoil. Drawing from my personal experience as a queer person with mental
illness, I search for a common thread between the emotional lives of humanity, and the visual
language with which it can be expressed. My drawings are a visual expression of the feelings
of disassociation, disenfranchisement and tension between real and surreal and a harnessing
of the energy of loss, loneliness, shame and fear. I use this energy to create, and through the
art allow a visual moment of catharsis where these emotions are felt and then transfigured
into something beautiful.


Learn more here

Benjamin Staker

The inner world of the mind defines the structures behind every aspect of life. By
making art, I am visually expressing that world, exploring themes of human anguish and
emotional turmoil. Drawing from my personal experience as a queer person with mental
illness, I search for a common thread between the emotional lives of humanity, and the visual
language with which it can be expressed. My drawings are a visual expression of the feelings
of disassociation, disenfranchisement and tension between real and surreal and a harnessing
of the energy of loss, loneliness, shame and fear. I use this energy to create, and through the
art allow a visual moment of catharsis where these emotions are felt and then transfigured
into something beautiful.