A Self- taught artist from Sunderland, UK, I live and work in Shanghai China.
I came here in 2016 for work and found the place and culture so stimulating I chose to stay. In 2023 I married my partner, Yuhan.
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MB are my first two initials (Matt Benjamin).
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Painting is a passion of mine, I started when I was 10 by painting miniature lead soldiers, then in my early teens I started painting oils. Briefly I created a lot of drawings on a vector drawing app called 'Graffiti' on Facebook which proved popular. In 2024 I began painting vintage watch dials.
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​I'm interested in the themes of contrast and tension within society and cultures, mixing traditional and modern, and subversion.
I try and draw out some beauty in the mundane or normal, and to communicate messages and ideas without alienating the viewer.
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In portraits I love to paint the characterful rather than the photogenic, and find old people fascinating subjects.
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I prefer painting cities or human environments rather than nature, simply because I find the human world so changeable that it's pleasing to capture a moment.
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Asian locations in particular I find visually so rewarding and colorful.
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