Concerning The Spiritual In Art

Tessellated Minds With Andrew Humke

Andrew Humke is an American artist born in Cincinnati, Ohio, currently working between Austin and Marseille. He earned his B.A. from the Savannah College of Art and Design. His practice explores motifs as historical and geographical references, using simple, universal forms, luminous color, and raw, unstretched canvases. Working from notebooks filled with sketches, Humke develops large-scale compositions, often six feet square or more, structured around ornamental and architectural archetypes—arches, vessels, palms, and columns—set in tension with organic pattern and growth. These recurring forms function as thresholds or containers, resisting attachment to any single culture while evoking shared visual languages that recur across civilizations. Color plays a central role, drawing from ancient frescoes, Mediterranean light, and the compositional clarity of quattrocento painting, alongside the quiet rigor of Giorgio Morandi. Often painted on the ground, sometimes in Provence, his works maintain a direct relationship to surface, scale, and edge. Precision, repetition, and radiance are held within raw boundaries, producing a contemplative, human-centered approach to abstraction rooted in balance, interiority, and continuity. https://www.andrewhumke.com/ *To stay updated on the podcast and related content, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my website ⁠www.martinLbenson.com⁠ [https://www.martinlbenson.com/] *To support the show and access exclusive content, consider subscribing for $0.99/month on Instagram (link available from website). Credits: Special thanks to Matthew Blankenship of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Sometimes Island⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our podcast theme music! Support this podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/martin-l-benson/support⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/martin-l-benson/support%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0]

Holding Space With Laurie Shapiro

Laurie Shapiro (b. 1990, New York) is a painter and installation artist based in NYC.  She received her BFA in 2012 from Carnegie Mellon University.  She has exhibited internationally at the Dyer Arts Center, San Diego Museum of Art, San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, Contemporary Jewish Museum, Nashville International Airport, and SACI Florence.  Her enveloping installations have been commissioned for Otherworld, Walter Studios, and Weedmaps, where her piece “Flowers Are Not A Crime” was shown at various festivals, including The Governors Ball, Life is Beautiful, and Cali Vibes.  Shapiro has completed artist residencies at the American Academy in Rome, the Kala Art Institute, Surel’s Place, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center, and the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles. She has been awarded several grants, including a California Council for the Arts Fellowship and a Puffin Grant.  Her work is internationally found in public and private collections, including at SACI Florence, Bilkent University, and the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles.  Her work has appeared in TV segments, including WTAE and KTNV, Jhene Aiko’s 4/20 Performance with Weedmaps, and in publications, including Fiber Arts Now, Artillery Magazine, and LA Weekly. https://laurieshapiroart.com/ https://www.instagram.com/laurieshapiroart/ Follow Martin Benson for more insights: *To stay updated on the podcast and related content, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my website ⁠www.martinLbenson.com⁠ [https://www.martinlbenson.com/] *To support the show and access exclusive content, consider subscribing for $0.99/month on Instagram (link available from website). Credits: Special thanks to Matthew Blankenship of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Sometimes Island⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our podcast theme music! Support this podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/martin-l-benson/support⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/martin-l-benson/support%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0]

Unknowing with Adrian Cox

Adrian Cox (born 1988) is a painter living and working in Los Angeles, California. Cox’s studio practice involves crafting an intricate and epic mythology with his paintings. In his work, he explores questions of identity, spirituality, and our relationship with the natural world. In creating his work, he draws inspiration from art history, science fiction, mythic archetypes, and his own experience of growing up in a closeted queer family. Cox attended the University of Georgia for his undergraduate studies and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with honors in 2010. He obtained his Master of Fine Arts degree from Washington University in Saint Louis in 2012. Cox has exhibited his work nationally and abroad, including at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, the Contemporary Art Museum Saint Louis, and the Oceanside Museum of Art. His paintings have been featured by VICE, Juxtapoz, American Art Collector, Beautiful Bizarre, Hi-Fructose, Heavy Metal Magazine, and in the book Anatomy Rocks: Flesh and Bones in Contemporary Art. https://www.adriancoxart.com/ [https://www.adriancoxart.com/] https://www.instagram.com/adriancoxart [https://www.instagram.com/adriancoxart] https://coreyhelfordgallery.com/shows/adrian-cox-4/soul-making-dream-ritual-ii/ [https://coreyhelfordgallery.com/shows/adrian-cox-4/soul-making-dream-ritual-ii/] Follow Martin Benson for more insights: *To stay updated on the podcast and related content, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my website ⁠www.martinLbenson.com⁠ [https://www.martinlbenson.com/] *To support the show and access exclusive content, consider subscribing for $0.99/month on Instagram (link available from website). Credits: Special thanks to Matthew Blankenship of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Sometimes Island⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our podcast theme music! Support this podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/martin-l-benson/support⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/martin-l-benson/support%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0]

Portals To Consciousness with Jason McDonald

Jason McDonald is an artist currently based in Melbourne, Australia. He completed his BA (Hons) Graphic Design 1995. Since then he has lived and worked in London, Singapore, Bangkok and Melbourne. McDonald has undertaken advanced studies in consciousness, including practitioner accreditation in energetic field work, research grade brainwave state monitoring in the field of neuroscience, Meditation Teacher training and extensive education and practices in Tibetan Buddhism, Korean Buddhism, Anthroposophy, Esoteric creativity and other wisdom traditions. He is also deeply informed by over 20 years of meditative & spiritual practice. His work deals with consciousness, transcendence and beauty and is at the frontier of synthesizing and anchoring energy, aesthetics, inspiration and the way in which spirit moves through art as a resource for growth and evolution. https://www.jasonwmcdonald.com/ [https://www.jasonwmcdonald.com/] Follow Martin Benson for more insights: *To stay updated on the podcast and related content, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my website www.martinLbenson.com [https://www.martinlbenson.com/] *To support the show and access exclusive content, consider subscribing for $0.99/month on Instagram (link available from website). Credits: Special thanks to Matthew Blankenship of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Sometimes Island⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our podcast theme music! Support this podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/martin-l-benson/support⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/martin-l-benson/support%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0]

Solo Cast #2

Quick podcast update ! New episodes coming soon ! 🙏🏼💫 *To stay updated on the podcast and related content, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/martinlbenson/] www.martinLbenson.com *To support the show and access exclusive content, consider subscribing for $0.99/month on Instagram (link above). Credits: Special thanks to Matthew Blankenship of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Sometimes Island⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [http://www.thesometimesisland.com/] for our podcast theme music! Support this podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/martin-l-benson/support⁠ [https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/martin-l-benson/support]