Perspectives: Ben Peabody

Sponsored by Tangipahoa Parish Tourism

Ben Peabody was a drinker. “In eighth grade I brought whiskey to school and drank it in the bathrooms,” he said. “I remember the euphoria; alcohol moved me to a different psychological level, and became a friend of mine from then on. That feeling should have told me that it would turn on me eventually.”

Peabody is a natural storyteller. “I would probably have been a writer but I can’t spell ‘cat,’” admitted the Baton Rouge native, who has been a full-time artist since 2000. “But I found that I can tell stories through my art.” Working with combinations of wood and plaster, metals, found objects, gold and silver leaf, acrylic paints, and talismanic objects given to him by clients, Peabody creates “symbolic assemblages” that tell visual stories and serve as intensely personal memory vaults for the people who commission them. 

The thirty-four pieces in Peabody’s Addiction: Sabotage, Sobriety, Surrender series aren’t commissions, although they evoke the stories of real people the artist has known—and helped set on the road to recovery. These works tell tales of substance abuse, dependence, and the slow erosion of control that Peabody encountered, first in himself, and then after he got sober, during his time teaching art at Baton Rouge Community College, where he became something of a confidant to kids trying to navigate their own addictions. “When people looked at these pieces they wanted to talk,” he said. “The work lets people open up about their own experiences with addiction—or their children’s. It turned out to be a comfortable way for people to discuss a subject that’s still a taboo that few are willing to admit to.”

The pieces in the Addiction series go beyond alcohol—Peabody’s particular demon—and  reflect the deadly game of pharmaceutical Russian roulette that confronts kids today. Rich with symbolism and the talismans of addicts’ experiences, these assemblages explore the allure of heroin, speed, methamphetamine, and prescription opioids; and the physical and psychological toll that they wreak on users and those that love them. Symbols abound: A black heart denotes the single-minded selfishness that comes with addiction. Skulls and skeletons inspired by Mexican Dìa de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) and Dìa de los Locos (Day of the Crazies) traditions dance through the work. “The skeleton is enjoyable to me because it’s about life and death,” explained Peabody, who with his wife, Weegie, spent a lot of time south of the border. “It lets me convey how dangerous and hard it is to overcome these addictions.”

In his pocket, Peabody carries a beautiful, handmade sobriety token engraved with the date September 1, 1988—the day he had his last drink. Thirty years on, Peabody is still using what he has learned to help other addicts to find, and commit to, sobriety. He meets with groups of kids and adults struggling with substance abuse, sponsors sufferers, and ultimately would like to see his Addiction series go on the road, to spark conversation and create a safe space for dialogue. “One in three people know a friend or family member that has a problem with some sort of addiction,” Peabody noted, “and three to four kids die [of substance abuse] every week in Baton Rouge. With my art, I want to open a conversation that we have a real addiction problem.”   

Contact the artist at benpeabody1@cox.net. Photo by Sarah Hackenberg. This month, Ben Peabody will be profiled on LPB’s Art Rocks, the weekly showcase of visual and performing arts hosted by Country Roads publisher James Fox-Smith. Tune in Friday, February 16 at 8:30 pm, or Saturday, February 17 at 5:30 pm, across the LPB network. lpb.org/artrocks.