Ben Topping

Printmaking Artist

Ben Topping is an artist whose practice focuses on printmaking and bronze work. He has recently graduated from a Masters in Fine Art at City and Guilds of London Art School, where he pursued a practice exploring the temporality of built structures, bridging art and archaeology through visual and material creations. Ben uses acid etching to capture eroded buildings of the past. His etchings are conceptually connected to ruins due to the degradation the zinc plate goes through when submerged in acid, mirroring the weathering of man-made sites and structures.

Ben investigates traditional processes alongside contemporary experimentations, aiming to push the boundaries of representation and develop techniques to replicate the textures of aging surfaces.

He is often compare methods within printmaking in tandem with newer technologies, such as scanning and 3D print, transitioning degrading structures into synthetic reproductions.

Ben has recently finished working for The Creative Dimension Trust, helping to deliver five, traditional etching workshops to students between the ages of 15-19. He is also working as a Print Fellow at City and Guilds of London Art School, where he assists in the running of the University’s Printmaking Workshop.