Bryony Bensly
United States
Born in Thailand and raised mainly in Hong Kong and England, Bryony Bensly experienced a multicultural upbringing and artistic influences that ranged from religious Asian iconography to the postmodern influences she encountered whilst studying at Dartington College of Arts, England.
Her earlier years were spent creating sculptures, out of organic matter, that celebrated the human form but her love of color, classical art and paint spurred her on to finding her voice on canvas.
Bensly's work is best described as Magical Realist oil painting, combining a classical approach to painting with a modern vernacular of our multilayered existence, in which she references stories, art, myths and legends to find common ground for discourse. Her current body of work focuses on animals, especially endangered species, in the context of our interdependence, responsibility and attitudes towards nature and the environment.
Bensly earned her BFA in “Art and Social Context” from Dartington College of Arts, England, and her MFA from the New York Academy of Figurative Art, graduating cum laude. She has shown in England and America and is currently represented by RJD Gallery in NY.
Her work has been featured in American Art Collector, THE Magazine, TREND Magazine, The Santa Fean and Artscope Magazine, among others. Bensly was a recipient of an artist-in-residence for 3 years from the Historic Santa Fe Foundation and has garnered several awards.
She currently lives and teaches in MA.
* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 14th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.
