Help preserve our future
West Dean is part of a registered charity and relies on the support of generous donors, friends, legacies to help us deliver world-class education in conservation and the creative arts and maintain our award-winning gardens.
Vanessa Benson
Vanessa Benson is a London-based Artist working predominantly in the mosaic medium. She studied painting at Camberwell School of Art and lived in Italy for 8 years in the 80's, where she studied mosaics She has been teaching mosaics in adult education and running community projects since 1993.
Describe your approach to teaching:
My approach to teaching provides students with a solid technical
base while encouraging exploration of materials and the tactile
qualities of the medium. Students' make their own designs or
improvise with the materials.
What inspires your work?
I work predominantly with stone, which through splitting open, at
times reveals the most sensual of lines, suggesting the liquid
phase of its ancient forming. These findings inform my work.