Pictured: “Written But Withheld" installed on Benj4min's studio wall.

Written But Withheld (study)

2025

Foamcore with giclée print and redaction panel

8 × 28 inches (20.32 × 71.12 cm)

A sculpture that memorializes an unsent text message.

The work presents a single smartphone message in its familiar composition box: "I miss you so much, [redacted]. I trust the year has been treating you well." The recipient's name is physically concealed beneath a raised white panel, creating an open space for viewers to recall their own unsent messages. The proportions mirror a smartphone's horizontal message field, while the send arrow — traditionally blue — appears in the artist's signature powder pink.

"Written But Withheld" transforms the common act of not pressing "send" into a portrait of longing, self-protection, and the power of withholding.