Studio Sessions
Artist as Multiple
with Ben Skiba
September 2026
About the Studio Session
Being an artist means tuning and attuning our eyes and ears at all times: we bring into the studio what we learn everywhere. Being an artist as multiple means that we are ourselves at once everywhere: working with a multitude of materials, working across several spaces, making various bodies of work, fulfilling multiple roles, and/or adopting new mindsets. The key in this Studio Session is understanding how we build bridges between these multiple facets, and perhaps, how those bridges become belief systems.
When we connect all of our parts and pieces, can we shrink or eliminate the divisions between them? Brewing coffee and reading poetry are kinds of brainstorming. An old crusty bag of clay that you throw away might inadvertently become a years-long installation project. A restaurant bathroom might actually be a high profile video projection gallery. And studying aphids in the garden is a sculptural clue. At what point does all of the stuff outside of the studio become the stuff of objects inside of the studio? How do our constructed belief systems change, clarify, crumble, and reconstruct throughout this process?
Using a framework of “both/and” we will analyze how we listen to, accept, and pull inspiration from here, there, everywhere, and all around.
About the Lead Artist
Ben Skiba was raised in the St. Croix Valley of Wisconsin and received his BFA from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. He lives and works out of his home studio in Portland, Oregon, working primarily with clay, paint, tape, canvas and paper. Also a poet, his studio centers around the connective tissue between his writing and a growing cast of shapes & forms which both need and provide support.
In 2023, he started HIDE & SEEK, an open home gallery project focused on curatorial projects that extend from his studio work. Friday lunch gatherings occur weekly at his home/studio/gallery, hope you can join sometime.
Logistics
This session is scheduled for Sundays, September 6, 13, 20, & 27 from 10am-noon PST (that’s Los Angeles time).
Registration is $320 and includes all four sessions.
Participants gather via Zoom.