Vase (Olive) (2025) Original Oil Painting by Ben Stephenson

This painting depicts a sculptural vase set against a warm orange ground. The paint is applied in thick, almost sculptural layers, emphasizing solidity and weight while preserving a sense of mystery. The object continues my exploration of relics and artifacts that hold an aura or latent energy, as though charged with symbolic presence.

The vase is “tattooed” with subtle markings - an atom-like sun at the crown, a crescent moon, a cross, faint drifting clouds, and a dove carrying an olive branch. These inscriptions transform the vessel into a bearer of layered meaning, bridging spiritual, cosmic, and natural symbols. At once austere and enigmatic, the form suggests both an ancient relic and a contemporary object imbued with memory and ritual.

Materials used:

Oil paint on canvas

Details:

• Oil painting on Canvas
• One of a kind artwork
• Size: 36 x 47 x 0.1cm (unframed)
• Signed on the back
• Style: Surrealistic
• Subject: Still life