Benjamin Diller

SURRENDERING TO THE EXPERIENCE

Spanish artist and surrealist icon Salvador Dalí said, “A true artist is not one who is inspired but one who inspires others.” That certainly holds true for Benjamin Diller, this year’s recipient for the President’s Award for Artistic Activity. Southeastern Associate Professor of Art Ernest Milsted certainly agrees.

     “I have worked with Ben in the Department of Visual Art + Design since 2006. During that time, I have witnessed his effectiveness as a teacher,” Milsted said. “His extensive skill set serves him well in the classroom, as he is consistently able to guide students from concept to completed project. He is a patient and thorough educator who is passionate about student success. His productivity provides his students with the very best example of how to be successful.”

     An Instructor and Drawing Coordinator at Southeastern since the fall of 2010, Diller received his bachelor of fine arts in 1992 from the Cleveland Institute of Art in Cleveland, majoring in painting, with a double minor in sculpture and printmaking. He received his master of fine arts in 2002 in studio art from the University of California, Davis.

     Having lived in the Midwest, Northeast, West Coast, and Gulf Coast, Diller said he was influenced by the environment and culture of each geographic area.

     “In my research and investigations, I have worked through different aspects of drawing, materiality, installation, juxtaposition and interaction of elements,” he said. “I document various sites visited through writing, drawing and photography, portraying a sense of hope, loss, decay and growth.”

     Diller creates artwork in a broad range of media and formats, exhibiting drawings, sculptures and installations. He has been selected for six solo exhibitions, seven two-person exhibitions, and more than 40 group shows. His artwork has been exhibited throughout Louisiana, as well as national exhibits in Chicago, Sacramento, Richmond, Washington DC, Boston, and Brooklyn, to name a few.

     “Ben Diller is an artist who is constantly working in representational and abstract styles,” said Visual Art + Design Department Head Dale Newkirk. “He fills sketchbook after sketchbook with drawings, which become a record of ideas. These drawings may be studies for new artworks realized in other media, or they may remain as part of the rich tapestry within his highly developed sketchbooks.”

     Diller said in his artistic practice he draws on his experiences as a carpenter, painter, printmaker and sculptor. As a teacher, he utilizes aspects of good design, positive and negative space, visual emphasis, scale and proportion in drawings, and he focuses on found materials and “home-brewed” processes.

     “My investigations depict contrasts between the natural and industrial worlds. Various materials such as wood, metal, local colorants and sections from other implements, are synthesized into structures, both two and three-dimensional,” he said. “Sometimes these structures utilize implied space, while other times they are the physical manifestations of that space. These contradictions highlight the illusion of control that is exerted over aspects of the natural world.”

     As an active, practicing artist, exhibiting and curating work nationally, regionally and locally, Diller is also a role model for students. 

     “Since I have been a foundations instructor for over 12 years, I have interacted with a variety of majors and concentrations throughout the campus,” he said. “This eclectic mix is inspiring to me, as I have found ways to utilize this blend in my own creative approaches. I encourage my students to consistently work in their sketchbooks and that they can be exhibited as finished works of art.”

     Diller often shares his exhibition experiences with his students and encourages them “to put themselves out there” by applying to shows, graduate schools, jobs and other opportunities. 

     “I was really impressed by one of Ben Diller’s installations,” said former art history student Betty Lou Starnes. “It’s remarkable to see a teacher open their sketchbook to their students to show the process of reworking ideas being realized in the final piece.”

     As Diller inspires others, he draws on inspiration from some of his own family members – his grandfather and his uncle.

     “My grandfather, an architect and naturalist, and his son, my uncle, an animator and do-it-yourself craftsman, inspired me to create hands-on improvisation with reclaimed materials related to our home,” Diller explained. “Using my grandfather’s hammer and my uncle’s inner voice telling me to eye every cut, angle, and notch in the process, I surrender to the experience.”