"I’ve been thinking a lot about landscapes over the past year. Landscapes are subject to the changing of the seasons, variations in light, and even alterations to their topographies over time. This makes the experience of being in these places quite unreal to me at times, almost preternatural. Whether it’s somewhere new or familiar, my perception is inevitably informed and distorted by the prism of my memory and imagination.

This collection of paintings is about those landscapes and places that don’t necessarily appear on any maps. They are ‘the unwritten places’ that exist in a moment of time, tethered to our hearts and memories."

Ben Crawford is a figurative painter. He mostly paints about his life, exploring the story telling possibilities of distorted memories and dreams. Surreal elements transform the landscapes he paints into somewhat mystical realms, bursting with colour and charged with mystery. Figures, architecture and landmarks drawn from his life imbue Ben’s paintings with a sense of narrative, anchoring his work tentatively to reality.

Born in Cork, Ireland, Ben studied painting at CCAD and graduated with a first class honours degree in fine art in 2007. Since living in Australia, Ben has had two successful solo shows and has been involved in many group shows and art auctions both here and overseas.

He now lives with his wife and two daughters in southern Queensland, painting from his studio situated in the verdant landscape of Currumbin Valley.