Benjamin is a multidisciplinary artist driven by curiosity. As a former avid surfer, he traveled to coastal regions from Hawaii to Senegal, often finding himself the only Black person in the water. This led him to question the “complex relationship African diasporic people have with the sea.” His artworks, centered around his native Jamaica, delve into the aftermath of the transatlantic slave trade and examine the brutal relationships Black people have with the ocean, global trade, and migration.

Born in St. Andrew, Benjamin has always been interested in international relations and national identity. Growing up in a family of national service sector employees—his mother was a stewardess for Air Jamaica, and his father was in the Jamaica Defense Force—he experienced a strong sense of national pride. Family discussions about Jamaica’s political history and MTV music videos broadened his cultural understanding. Through his diverse artworks, including photography, film, installation, painting, and sculpture, Benjamin addresses ecological devastation and political friction, honoring those affected by modernization. For Barrel 1—South Coast, Jamaica (2024), he used cornmeal, sand, beach debris, and resin to create a cylindrical form that reflects on colonialism’s impact on the landscape and the diminishing access to fresh fish and coastlines.

Archival 19th-century photography plays a central role in Benjamin’s practice. These images, once used as propaganda to romanticize the Caribbean, are reinterpreted in his work. In his recent solo show, “Native Diver,” at Swivel Gallery in New York, Benjamin avoids the sensationalism of a Caribbean fantasy by using neutral hues and minimal forms. Native Diver (2024), a black-and-white silkscreen painting, features a fold that conceals the figure in the boat, expanding Caribbean aesthetics and embracing the multiplicity Édouard Glissant discusses in his book Poetics of Relation.

Benjamin’s artworks emphasize global interconnectedness beyond borders. At this year’s Malta Biennale, he presented an interactive video installation, Pillars (2024), using shipping barrels often employed by immigrants to send goods home. These barrels, with apertures acting as portals, display diorama-like video seascapes that migrants encounter on their journeys. Like much of Benjamin’s work, this piece highlights how our histories are intertwined by a single body of water, urging us to blur the lines that divide us.

Sayart / Kelly.K pittou8181@gmail.com