Artist Statement Benjamin Herbert (b. 1973, Brooklyn, New York) is a self-taught abstract oil painter based in Gloucester, Massachusetts. After a long career as an executive in the fashion industry, he transitioned to painting full-time in 2024, marking a decisive commitment to his studio practice.Herbert’s work explores the tension between control and chance. Working primarily in oil, he employs unconventional and repurposed tools alongside traditional brushes, allowing irregular marks and wet-on-wet processes to introduce unpredictability into the surface. Spontaneity is balanced by deliberate compositional decisions — reduction, spatial structure, line, and color relationships —creating a dynamic equilibrium between gesture and restraint. His paintings engage perception as an evolving process rather than a fixed image. Through layered surfaces, interruptions, and shifting focal points, Herbert examines how experience and intuition register within abstraction. He has presented solo exhibitions in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and has participated in numerous regional group exhibitions. Herbert is represented by FrontFour Gallery in Stowe, Vermont, and is an active member of the Rocky Neck Art Colony and the Newburyport Art Association.