Atelier Insights #3 Benjamin Murphy

BM: It’s a dream. For a while I had a studio in London and then another tiny one in Helsinki. When I decided to leave the one in London and be in Helsinki full time I had to then find a bigger one. I went to some open days and thought I’d never find one as there were so many people looking and so few spaces. Luckily Toni Elg let me know that he was moving out and put me in contact with his landlord. I’ve been there a couple of years now and I love it. There are so many other artists at Nilsiankatu and it’s very close to where I live in Vallila.

BM: Because charcoal on canvas is so messy, it’s nice to have two rooms. The smaller room is the one i use to actually make the work in, so I can close the door and try to limit the spread of the charcoal dust. The other room is more of an office, where I can do admin, stretch canvases, and hang out it. It’s a bigger space than I was initially looking for, but now I’m in it it is already starting to feel small, I’m like a hermit crab and I’ve expanded to fill the space.