Ben Tankard

Born 1979, Sydney
Bachelor of Fine Arts
Graduation show: 1999
Graduation ceremony: 2000

Artwork in Space YZ

The Tower, 2002
Mixed media on wood
60 x 90 cm

The War on Terror, the war in Afghanistan, sedition laws in Australia, and changes in society were all on my mind at the time of making The Tower. They tied in visually with the tarot card, The Tower, which symbolises a range of negative or challenging events. The image is of a looming tower, contrasted with a small, relatively powerless figure in the lower section.

Ben Tankard is now a full-time painter living in the Blue Mountains. He has been a finalist in the Sulman Prize, Mosman Prize, Calleen Art Prize and Gallipoli Art Prize, and won the 2019 Hawkesbury Art Prize.

See more from Ben Tankard on Instagram.

It was a pretty exciting time, being exposed to new ideas and practices. I remember the great library at Werrington (the books were all gone last time I checked), the terrible food at Kingswood, the bands and stand-up comedians at the bar, the heat of Western Sydney, drawing and painting all over the walls, finding an old sofa by the highway near the train station and carrying it to Z block, the disdain of the science students, the weird conversations. The sense of endless possibilities.