Sarah Benson is an American artist based in Austin, Texas and originally from Berkeley, California. She painted throughout the 1990s and worked in the film industry before deciding to pursue a degree in Historic Preservation. She returned to painting and sculpture in 2019.

Statement

I paint or make marks on paper with oil or acrylic paint, oil sticks, colored pencil, gel pen. I like to play with color, form, and depth, and with themes of order and ambiguity. I don’t begin with a predetermined end goal, instead, each work is a bit of an experiment, and I strive to delight myself while creating a sense of mystery. My paintings tend to be very small. In part this is due to the cozy dimensions of my studio, but it is also a scale I am drawn to. It is a way to focus intensely on what is right in front of me (and the viewer can do the same in turn). I love that even the smallest painting is a physical object with weight, energy, and depth. Each one invites a tête-à-tête - a moment of private and unmediated contemplation and connection