A Softer Side of Heavy Metal. AC’s New Neighbor: Ben Venom.

UPDATE: We’ve finished a short cut of our Ben Venom: SF Neighbors piece. The song featured is ‘Changing’ by a favorite metal band ‘Witch’. Have a look and listen below.

Over the past few months we’ve had the great pleasure of getting to know San Francisco fine artist, Ben Venom.

Hailing from the great state of Georgia, this southern gentleman invited us out on the town and into his home to talk about his life and work. Over the course of four shoots and multiple conversations, we discovered a kind, whip smart quilting madman.

Catch that last part? I was listening to NPR when I heard a spot about an artist quilting with heavy metal t-shirts. I’ve been sewing for the better part of three years, and knew I had to see this for myself. ‘Bay Area Now‘, an annual art show at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, was featuring one of Ben’s largest quilts to date. It not only dominated the galleries massive walls, but put Ben at the top of my list for our next Neighbors piece. I pitched the spot to Nick and Jason, reached out to Ben, and got everyone quickly and enthusiastically on board.

Our latest Neighbors short is in the works, but I wanted to share a few stills we captured along the way. Looking forward to sharing more of our collaboration with Ben Venom!