Benjamin Shine
Benjamin Shine is a contemporary British artist and designer known for his innovative and unique approach to creating art using fabric, particularly tulle. Born in 1978 in London, Shine graduated with a degree in fashion design from the prestigious Central Saint Martins in London. His career has been marked by a distinctive fusion of fine art and fashion, where he transforms delicate materials into intricate, ethereal portraits and sculptures.
Shine's signature technique involves pleating, folding, and layering tulle to create detailed and expressive images, often focusing on faces and figures that seem to emerge from the fabric. This process, which he describes as "painting with fabric," has garnered international recognition for its originality and the emotional depth it conveys.
His works have been exhibited in prominent galleries and museums around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Arts and Design New York, The Crafts Council UK and The London Design Museum. Shine's art has also been featured in high-profile collaborations with fashion brands such as Givenchy and Bergdorf Goodman, where his fabric sculptures have been used in window displays and fashion campaigns.
Benjamin Shine - Reason (2014). Tulle on canvas.
One of Shine's most notable works is the series titled "Flow," which explores themes of identity, presence, and the interplay between light and shadow. These large-scale portraits are made entirely from tulle and demonstrate his mastery of the medium, capturing the subtle nuances of human expression and form.
In addition to his fabric art, Shine has worked on a variety of other creative projects, including product design, installations, and public art. His work has been recognized with several awards, including the Red Dot Design Award, The Enterprising Young Brit Award, The Arts and Entertainment Export Award in Australia and in 2017 he was listed as one of the 500 people shaping the fashion industry by the Business of Fashion.
Benjamin Shine continues to push the boundaries of textile art, exploring new ways to bring his visions to life through the delicate interplay of material and form. His work is celebrated for its technical brilliance, emotional resonance, and the unique way it blurs the lines between fashion, art, and sculpture.
Benjamin Shine - Manta (2018). Tulle on canvas.
Benjamin Shine: Mastering the Art of Tulle
Benjamin Shine is widely recognized for his innovative tulle artworks, where he transforms delicate, sheer fabric into intricate and expressive portraits, figures, and abstract forms. His technique, often referred to as "painting with fabric," involves skillfully pleating, folding, and layering tulle—a lightweight, netted fabric typically used in fashion and costume design—to create images that appear almost as if they are emerging from the material itself. These works are known for their dreamlike quality, with the fabric’s transparency and softness adding a sense of ethereality and movement to the images.
Shine’s tulle portraits are among his most iconic works. He carefully manipulates the fabric to create detailed, lifelike images of faces that capture the nuances of human expression. The play of light and shadow in these pieces is crucial, as the layers of tulle create varying depths and tones, giving the portraits a three-dimensional appearance. These works explore themes of identity, presence, and the transient nature of human experience, with the tulle’s solid yet transparent nature reflecting these concepts. The series "Flow" is particularly noted for its exploration of these themes, with the tulle creating a delicate barrier that suggests ideas of concealment and revelation.
Benjamin Shine - Purity / Pink (2015).
While often presented in a two-dimensional format, Shine's tulle works have a strong sculptural quality due to the way the fabric is manipulated. The layers and folds create a sense of depth and texture, making the works appear as though they are almost breathing or moving. In some pieces, Shine extends the fabric beyond the confines of a frame, allowing it to flow freely, adding to the dynamic, almost living quality of the work. Although many of Shine's tulle works are monochromatic, using a single color to emphasize the play of light and shadow, he also creates pieces that incorporate subtle variations in color, adding emotional depth to the works and enhancing the viewer's experience.
Shine's tulle artworks have been featured in high-profile collaborations with fashion brands and in public installations. His work has been displayed in the windows of Bergdorf Goodman and in installations for Givenchy, where his tulle creations evoke a sense of luxury and ethereal beauty. These collaborations highlight the versatility of Shine's technique and his ability to adapt his art to different contexts and scales. Notable series such as ”Flow," "The Dance," "Flux" and “Remembrance” showcase his mastery of the medium and his innovative approach to blending painting, sculpture, and textile design. Through his tulle works, Benjamin Shine has established himself as a unique and influential figure in contemporary art, celebrated for both his technical mastery and the emotional depth of his creations.
Selena Mattei
