Coquette Painting

Benjamin Stephenson (b. 1990) is a British-born artist whose work explores the evolving relationship between humanity and the natural world. He studied at Wimbledon College of Art (UAL), graduating with a First Class BA (Honors), and furthered his technical and theoretical grounding through a scholarship at the Royal Drawing School as well as courses at Sotheby’s Institute of Art. Rooted in research across Colombia and Mexico, Stephenson works primarily with oils and natural pigments he creates himself. His paintings often depict figures merging with landscapes, drawing on mythology, animism, and folklore to blur boundaries between the body and environment. Built through layered glazes and textured brushwork, his works evoke dreamlike vignettes and psychological landscapes, using earthy palettes of deep greens, ochres, and blues. Influenced by Latin American magical realism and artists like Leonora Carrington and Peter Doig, his work has been shown internationally, including FAIN Feria in Mexico City and Genesis in the Retort at Museo de la Ciudad, Querétaro. In 2021, he was awarded first prize by the Mexican Embassy in London for a collaborative sculpture in the Camaradas exhibition at The Koppel Project Exchange, London.