Bio

Ben Baker studied at Hereford college of art for his BA (Hons) in Design Craft. He now lives and works on his work full time in Falmouth, Cornwall.
Whilst at Hereford he developed his three-dimensional, illustrative style of sculpture. Many of Ben’s pieces are interactive, utilising mechanisms so the viewer can animate the scene by simply turning a handle.

Ben has lived all over the southwest of England. Being on the coast is his biggest inspiration. He enjoys the sense of nostalgia and the aesthetic that linger in and around the Cornish coastal communities. He draws on a lifetime of living on the southwest coast and his twelve years of experience working as a boat builder in and around his Falmouth home. His subjects vary but focus on creatures of the coast and the sea, alongside his passion for boats and the culture that surrounds them.

He uses several grades of iron wire to transform his fluid single line drawings into a tangible version. He likes to pair these with found and reclaimed timber, often using pieces from the actual vessel.  The wire drawings are destined to either stand still or come to life using cranks, levers and threads of nylon.  The mechanisms themselves add a level of intrigue and play that Ben himself gets so much joy from.

Education 

2003-2006 BA (Hons) Design Craft Hereford College of Art
2000-2003 Foundation Diploma of Art and A level in Graphic Design North Devon College
2008-2009 Boatbuilding Maintenance and support – City and Guilds Level 3 Falmouth Marine School 

Experience 

Charlestown Harbour (UNESCO world heritage site) 2018-2020 

  • Set up of wood working workshop
  • Built and fitout the harbour office including the kitchen and toilet facilities.
  • Designed and built dovecotes to rehome the birds from the workshop
  • Designed and built collapsible, period looking market stools in keeping with the harbour
  • Designed and built punishment stocks for photo opportunities 
  • Designed and built a flag racing structure for visitors
  • Recovery and restoration of the 110-year-old Itchen Ferry Roxanna as a living exhibit during the summer
    tourist season
  • Built several props and rigging parts for the BBC drama Dracula
  • Lead shipwright on restorations of several large wooden sailing vessels moored at the harbour including
    new masts and other rigging spars
  • Training an apprentice

Rustler Yachts 2014-2018 

  • Production luxury boatbuilding from raw materials to launch
  • Led a team of 5 building the 37-model
  • Developed build sheets to improve productivity
  • Oversaw teams on the whole range of Rustler’s models, the 24,33,37,42,44, and the 57-foot
  • Problem solver and snag leader on the completed models for after sales
  • Builder of the bespoke fixtures and fittings for models Self Employed 2011-2014
  • Restoration of a 32-foot pilot gig in the open workshop in the Falmouth maritime museum
  • Fitting kitchens and various property improvement and garden works
  • Design and construction of bespoke storage solutions in residential properties
  • Art collaboration with Walthamstow primary school for Chinese New Year
  • Made commissions of my art
  • Refurbishment of a 62-foot canal barge
  • Refurbishment of 28-foot wooden crab boat
  • Festival Art project 2012-present Props made for Old School Safari Crew
    Cockwells Boatbuilders Yard hand 2009-2011
  • Spray finishing, varnish and paint to a Yacht finish
  • Helped complete the 42-foot replica Bristol channel pilot cutter Merlin
  • Worked at company sawmill converting trees to usable timber
  • Re decking and re planking numerous wooden boats
    Falmouth Marine School 2007-2008
  • Achieved 9 Distinctions out of 10 modules
  • Outstanding Student of the Year award Freelancing 2006-2008

• Painting and decorating/General buildings works/Fitting several kitchens Achievements/Exhibitions 

  • Art Foundation end of year show 2003 Work sold
  • Featured in local paper review 2003
  • Degree end of year show 2006 80% of work sold plus commissions
  • The Riverbank, Truro 2009
  • Interviewed by Falmouth art college for online tv show 2009
  • Sandsifters, Perronporth 2009
  • Smiths of Smithfield, London 2010
  • Bluetit, Clapton, London 2013-2015
  • Featured in The Arcade online magazine
  • My artwork used as prop art in the feature film The time of their lives
  • The Fish Factory, Falmouth, 2020 (Solo Exhibition, virtual)
  • The Poly, Falmouth, April 2021 (Solo Exhibition)
  • The Crypt, St Ives, August 2021 (Exhibition)
  • The Poly, Falmouth, Summer Members Show, August 2021 (Exhibition)
  • The Poly, Falmouth, September 2021 (Solo Exhibition)
  • Accepted as a full member to The Devon Guild of Craftsmen, September 2021
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