Threshold (2024) Original Oil Painting by Ben Stephenson

In "Threshold," Stephenson merges human presence with natural observation, creating a meditation on watching and being watched. A figure, viewed from behind, stands illuminated by sharp diagonal light that cuts across the composition like a window or portal. Against a light-blue plane that hovers between sky and reflection, the scene unfolds in waist-high grass where a praying mantis and grasshopper engage in their own parallel drama of predator and prey.
The work explores themes of patience and anticipation, with the backlit figure serving as both observer and observed. Stephenson's careful attention to the interplay of scale - from human to insect - challenges conventional hierarchies of importance in the natural world, while the ambiguous purpose of the figure's vigilance mirrors the mantis's own predatory watch.

Materials used:

Oil paint on linen

Details:

• Oil painting on Canvas
• One of a kind artwork
• Size: 50 x 80 x 2cm (unframed) / 50 x 80cm (actual image size)
• Ready to hang
• Signed on the back
• Style: Surrealistic
• Subject: Still life

Featured by our Editors:

• Light and shadow