Benjamin Lai is an artisan based in New York City. His specialty is in making experimental textures. His work breaks away from traditional artistic concerns with composition by following an ethic of "truth to materials". By this method the form an artwork takes is dictated by the materials. He interweaves layers of different mediums and techniques to create a cohesive singularity. Often working in monochrome, he uses the tension created between hard, soft, rough and smooth to add character to the textures.

Benjamin credits his current path to very systematic roots. Starting in high school he won several awards for figurative drawing in pastels. In 1992 he began a part-time career in decorative painting while studying interior design at the School of Visual Arts in NYC. After SVA he moved to Saint Gilles, Belgium. He studied with the late great Clemente Van Der Kelen at the world renowned Institute Superior de Peinture Van der Kelen Logelain. There he received intensive paint training in traditional and classical applications with a main focus on marbling, woodgraining and trompe l’oeil.

Benjamin lives in Brooklyn, surfs Rockaways and has a private studio in Midtown Manhattan.