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Where in the world is Stephen Bennett |
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Stephen Bennett is an American portrait painter living in New York City. He makes annual trips around the world to paint portraits of indigenous peoples. Young, old, joyful, and withered faces populate these vibrant canvases, celebrating a variety of ethnic strains in a tapestry painted with strong brushwork. Stephen's objective is to share his experiences of the diversity of human life. His work has been used to promote and preserve cultures in the United States, Mexico, St. Martin, Panama, French Polynesia, the Seychelles, Tanzania, Namibia, Borneo and Australia. He extends an invitation to all to suggest new ways in which his work can be used as a forum for cultural awareness.
In 2001 he spent 7 months painting in Tanzania. In 2002 he spent a year painting the Himba and Kung (San) peoples of Namibia. In 2003 he circumnavigated Australia to learn about, and paint its people. In 2004 he worked on the Island of Borneo and plans to return there in 2005. Stephen has keen sense of observation, and a fine sensitivity to draw the beauty of a face and the strength of a look. He succeeds in his artistic endeavors thanks to his appreciation of human differences, his generosity, and his desire to understand others. He has a special ability to express and bring light to a face by his play with colors. For Stephen, a face is a treasure.
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| His vision is education through art on a global scale. Stephen is driven by a desire to complete an international exhibition of 1000 portraits from the world over, painted by his own hand. This enormous project is ambitious, but needed at a time when the world is particularly conflicted. The common thread throughout his work is to show the beauty in the human face, and beauty is his universal theme that ties us all together.
Stephen is founder of "Faces of the World", a non-profit corporation in the United States with a mission of increasing cultural pride and affirming the importance of indigenous cultures. "Faces of the World" is funded from the sale of Bennett's paintings, donations and sponsorship. For more information go to www.facesoftheworld.net
In summary, Stephen states, "I am a portrait painter because of my passion for people. There is nothing more interesting to me than a new face. I search for subjects with whom I feel a connection. My portraits convey a fusion of my feelings for each subject with an intuitional use of color. In my portraits, I strive to reveal the personality of my subjects, intensifying them in a celebration of their existence." |
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