BEN
Sculptor
Currently based in London
Benjamin Tong (b. 2000) is a British-born artist, based in London, with Hong Kong roots. A graduate of Central Saint Martins, he is currently pursuing an MA in Sculpture at the Royal College of Art.
His work explores the concept of the Grotesque Sublime, a duality that contrasts and connects the divine imagery and out-of-body experiences of the Sublime with the unsettling and horrific elements of the Grotesque. This interplay creates tension between beauty and discomfort, drawing the viewer into his layered, multi-sensory narratives.
Growing up between British and Hong Kong identities, he often found himself in liminal spaces—between tradition and modernity, serenity and chaos. This in-between state fuels his fascination with the Grotesque Sublime, a space where opposites coexist. Tong examines themes of space, religion, war, nature, folklore, and horror through a multi-faceted approach. He plays with the contrasts of transcendence and immanence, crafting work that feels simultaneously otherworldly and grounded in visceral, material realities.
His sculptures and installations depict figures in flux—bodies that appear to be dissolving, reforming, or caught in an endless state of becoming. Inspired by natural processes like decomposition, regeneration, and mutation, his work embraces a raw sense of physicality, where forms are never fixed but constantly shifting.
Rather than depicting the human body as a stable, singular entity, Tong constructs figures that are fragmented, hybrid, or in a state of emergence—limbs stretching, surfaces breaking open, flesh giving way to crystalline structures. This sense of perpetual transformation draws from mythology, alchemy, and biological and technological metamorphosis, where destruction and creation exist as part of the same cycle. His figures and objects feel both familiar and alien, inviting the viewer into a world where physicality is unstable, and beauty is inseparable from its own decay.
Rather than offering a singular narrative, Tong’s work invites open-ended interpretation. He is particularly interested in how the viewer’s own emotional and physical responses—discomfort, awe, fascination—become part of the piece. By blurring the boundaries between the sacred and the grotesque, he hopes to create new spaces where contradictions can be held together, rather than resolved.
“These two realms heavily conflict with each other but at the same time are closely connected. The paradoxical connection of harmony and annihilation. A butterfly is one of the most beautiful creatures in the world. From its shape and colour; it gives off sublime features. However, it has to deform and secrete itself as a caterpillar to achieve this state: mutating in its own product and shell as a cocoon. In retrospect, life can be sublime but you are literally birthed through pain and screaming. The paradox is everywhere.
The Grotesque and the Sublime know of no limits, they don’t reside in rules and borders. They are natural and unnatural. They destroy the illusion of boundaries to create new worlds and inspire connection.
I am peaceful desecration. I am Tomita playing heavy death metal. I am the quartz eye inside the hurricane.”
-Ben Tong (2025)![]()
His work explores the concept of the Grotesque Sublime, a duality that contrasts and connects the divine imagery and out-of-body experiences of the Sublime with the unsettling and horrific elements of the Grotesque. This interplay creates tension between beauty and discomfort, drawing the viewer into his layered, multi-sensory narratives.
Growing up between British and Hong Kong identities, he often found himself in liminal spaces—between tradition and modernity, serenity and chaos. This in-between state fuels his fascination with the Grotesque Sublime, a space where opposites coexist. Tong examines themes of space, religion, war, nature, folklore, and horror through a multi-faceted approach. He plays with the contrasts of transcendence and immanence, crafting work that feels simultaneously otherworldly and grounded in visceral, material realities.
His sculptures and installations depict figures in flux—bodies that appear to be dissolving, reforming, or caught in an endless state of becoming. Inspired by natural processes like decomposition, regeneration, and mutation, his work embraces a raw sense of physicality, where forms are never fixed but constantly shifting.
Rather than depicting the human body as a stable, singular entity, Tong constructs figures that are fragmented, hybrid, or in a state of emergence—limbs stretching, surfaces breaking open, flesh giving way to crystalline structures. This sense of perpetual transformation draws from mythology, alchemy, and biological and technological metamorphosis, where destruction and creation exist as part of the same cycle. His figures and objects feel both familiar and alien, inviting the viewer into a world where physicality is unstable, and beauty is inseparable from its own decay.
Rather than offering a singular narrative, Tong’s work invites open-ended interpretation. He is particularly interested in how the viewer’s own emotional and physical responses—discomfort, awe, fascination—become part of the piece. By blurring the boundaries between the sacred and the grotesque, he hopes to create new spaces where contradictions can be held together, rather than resolved.
“These two realms heavily conflict with each other but at the same time are closely connected. The paradoxical connection of harmony and annihilation. A butterfly is one of the most beautiful creatures in the world. From its shape and colour; it gives off sublime features. However, it has to deform and secrete itself as a caterpillar to achieve this state: mutating in its own product and shell as a cocoon. In retrospect, life can be sublime but you are literally birthed through pain and screaming. The paradox is everywhere.
The Grotesque and the Sublime know of no limits, they don’t reside in rules and borders. They are natural and unnatural. They destroy the illusion of boundaries to create new worlds and inspire connection.
I am peaceful desecration. I am Tomita playing heavy death metal. I am the quartz eye inside the hurricane.”
-Ben Tong (2025)
CV
︎ benjamin.tong@btinternet.com
︎ @yungmichaelcera
︎ @yungmichaelcera
Education:
Royal College of Art - London
MA Sculpture
Central Saint Martins (UAL) - London
BA Graphic Communication Design
Northbrook College (GBMC) - Durrington
UAL Foundation Art and Design
MA Sculpture
Central Saint Martins (UAL) - London
BA Graphic Communication Design
Northbrook College (GBMC) - Durrington
UAL Foundation Art and Design
Press:
June 2025 - RCA MA Degree Show, London
March 2025 - sitnaltA, The Handbag Factory, London
February 2025 - POWER STRUCTURES, D Contemporary, London
June 2024 - Gut Feeling, Sonja Cheng, Hong Kong
June 2022 - Graduate Degree Show 2022, Central Saint Martins, London
March 2025 - sitnaltA, The Handbag Factory, London
February 2025 - POWER STRUCTURES, D Contemporary, London
June 2024 - Gut Feeling, Sonja Cheng, Hong Kong
June 2022 - Graduate Degree Show 2022, Central Saint Martins, London