Checkmate (2025) Original Oil Painting by Ben Stephenson

A luminous horse’s head, rendered in the delicate transparency of a glass fishbowl, sits at the center of this surreal composition. Within its fragile form, traces of orange goldfish drift like fleeting memories, their movements echoing the tension between confinement and freedom. Set against a dense backdrop of layered leaves, the scene suggests an ambiguous interior space—an illusion of nature contained within walls. The interplay of organic and geometric shapes nods to Matisse’s influence, while the controlled brushwork and diffused light evoke humankind’s perpetual desire to reshape the natural world. The result is both dreamlike and unsettling, a meditation on the blurred boundaries between interior and exterior, control and surrender.

Materials used:

Oil paint on canvas

Details:

• Oil painting on Canvas
• One of a kind artwork
• Size: 44 x 70 x 4cm (unframed) / 44 x 70cm (actual image size)
• Ready to hang
• Signed on the back
• Style: Surrealistic
• Subject: Animals and birds