For as long as I can remember, I’ve been drawn to the sea. Growing up on the storm-swept coast on the North Devon/Cornish border surfing became a defining passion in my life. It has since taken me on a journey of discovery and exploration across the world’s oceans. As an artist, my desire is to express the sense of awe, wonder and joy that the ocean gives me.
I work from memory, drawing on my observation of the sea’s ever-changing moods and the interplay of light above and upon its surface. My creative process involves a distillation of these elements to their essence as I aim to capture the fleeting, transcendent moments of beauty that I experience and the emotions they evoke.
When painting, I work on a flat surface, allowing me to employ large, sweeping, expansive movements and application of strong downward pressure to move the paint on the surface. I use a variety of flexible tools and graduate into brushes as the painting progresses. In my view, a successful painting achieves a harmonious balance between dramatic energy and a serene, ethereal presence, evoking a sense of space, time and distance. It is this interplay of contrasts that continues to captivate me. The resulting artworks are emotionally evocative, inviting viewers to embark on their own fresh interpretations and discoveries.
‘Eventually man, too, found his way back to the sea. Standing on its shores, he must have looked out upon it with wonder and curiosity, compounded with an unconscious recognition of his lineage.’
Rachel Carson The Sea Around Us
Curriculum Vitae
Ben Lucas is a painter who is interested in conveying emotions evoked by the natural landscape.
After returning from Australia in 2022 Ben is currently painting in his new studio on the North Devon Coast in the UK where he works alongside his wife – the highly regarded studio potter Elke Lucas.
Solo Exhibitions
2022 Under the Same Sky – Sydney Road Gallery
2021 La Niña Blues – Sydney Road Gallery
2020 Under Moving Skies – The Gallery
2019 Look Back in Wonder – The Gallery
2018 An Infinite Mirror – Stevens Street Gallery
2018 All Available Light – The Gallery
Duo Exhibitions
2017 Stories from Sea and Land – Left Bank Gallery
Group Exhibitions
2019 The 4 Amigos Red Hill gallery
2018 Sea Change – The Gallery
2017 Lost and Found – Stevens Street Gallery
2017 Q1 Art Wall Exhibition – Kit and Ace
2016 Q4 Art Wall Exhibition Kit and Ace
2013 A Taste of Art – Noosa Regional Gallery
2012 Alan Reading Memorial Art Awards
2009 Face to Face – COCA
Awards
2021 Caloundra Regional Gallery – LCLA – Winner – Peoples Choice Award
2021 Caloundra Regional Gallery – LCLA – Finalist
2020 Caloundra Regional Gallery – LCLA – Finalist
2018 Caloundra Regional Art Prize Finalist
2012 Alan Reading Memorial Art Prize: Winner – Contemporary Painting
Gallery Representation
UK
The Brownston Gallery
Australia
Sydney Road Gallery
Thom Gallery
Nissarana Galleries
Red Hill Gallery
Misc.
Jacket cover: Two Journeys Published by Grosvenor House Publishing Limited 2016
Jacket cover: Handbook of the Development of Children’s Memory Published by Bauer/Wiley-Blackwell 2013
Private Collections
Works held in private collections and financial institutions in Canada, the United States, Germany, the UK, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand.
Artistic Lineage
Ben is the Grandson of the author Mary Norton best known for the children’s classic ‘The Borrowers’. His Grandfather was the pioneering modernist architect Colin Lucas OBE. Colin was a member of ‘Unit One’ the British grouping of Modernist artists founded by Paul Nash. He is also the brother of the portrait painter Fanny Rush and the sculptor Joe Rush, founder of the Mutoid Waste Company.
