Pattern and Bold, Saturated Color Commingle in Ben Sledsens’ Rhythmic Paintings
While bold in color, Ben Sledsens' oil-and-acrylic paintings are quiet and intimate. Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Pattern and Bold, Saturated Color Commingle in Ben Sledsens’ Rhythmic Paintings appeared first on Colossal .
Ben Sledsens has released a new collection titled "An Apple for the Road" featuring bold, saturated color fields woven together with precise patterns derived from natural elements like grasses, leaves, and bricks. The Antwerp-based artist creates atmospheric paintings that halt time, portraying a swan reflected in tinted water, a woman stepping out of her front door, and vivid still lifes with clouds and breezes dancing through windows.
Sledsens typically starts with paper sketches before applying the most crucial details to canvas. The artist revels in repetition and pattern, layering them to create dense, intricate compositions of willow trees or the tiles of a boat dock. These motifs set the stage for images of the familiar viewed through a new, slightly altered lens.
Works such as "Lily in the Blue Pond" (2025), oil and acrylic on canvas, 180 x 150 centimeters, invite viewers into peaceful domestic spaces bathed in soft dusk light, making us question what we focus on and what we might miss. "Eight Pink Roses" (2025), oil paint on paper, 106 x 75 centimeters, "A Three Masted Ship" (2026), oil and acrylic on canvas, 200 x 160 centimeters, and "Still Life in a Yellow Room" (2026), oil paint on paper, 106 x 75 centimeters are among the pieces on display at Tim Van Laere Galler in Antwerp from September 3 to October 10.
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