Artist Ben Mazey has lived with art across continents, from rural New Zealand to Paris, Shanghai and Sydney. Ahead of Sydney Contemporary 2026, where he exhibits with C. Gallery and joins the Talks program, he reflects on collecting instinctively, creating homes with personality, and the artworks that become lifelong companions.
Your home and studio are almost inseparable. How has living surrounded by your own work, and the work of others, shaped the way you think about what belongs in a home?
It’s been liberating to be honest. And I think really reinforced my belief that if you emotionally respond to it any work belongs in your home.
You’ve lived everywhere from rural New Zealand to Paris, Shanghai and now Sydney. Are there artworks or objects that have travelled with you, and why have those particular pieces stayed with you?
Absolutely – I am a firm believer in artwork and objects that we acquire kind of turning a home into an interactive charm bracelet. I have things (shout out a snoopy money box from my first boyfriend and giant concrete ear) that have been with me in every space I’ve lived in for my entire adult life.
As an artist, do you experience other people’s art differently once it’s in your home? Does living with an artwork reveal things you wouldn’t notice in a gallery?
I think energetically (I am prepared to have people roll their eyes at that word – I would) work definitely behaves differently in a home. I am constantly moving work around and in particular I think it’s less about the interior space, and more related to the proximity to other work, that makes me experience it differently.
You often talk about your practice feeling instinctive rather than overly planned. Do you take the same approach when choosing the objects, furniture and artworks you live with, or are you surprisingly considered?
I have been labouring over a sofa purchase for about 6 years so that could be called considered. But I am 1000% instinctive generally.
Your interiors feel highly personal but never overly polished. What do you think makes a home feel creative rather than simply well designed?
A sense of the person that lives there, not just a bunch of stuff with a certain taste level.
If someone was buying their first artwork for their home at Sydney Contemporary, do you have any words of wisdom for them?
I have never ever had a shopping hangover from money spent on art.
Sydney Contemporary returns to Carriageworks from 3 – 6 September. Tickets are on sale now.
