Impasto Immersion with Ben Hedström
Exploring presence, perception and a shifting relationship with the natural landscape, Jodie Cameron chats to our winter cover artist about his practice, and the place it has in his life.
Becoming a practicing artist takes a palette full of courage, connection, and creative conviction – the defining strokes of Ben Hedström’s evolving artistic journey. But Ben doesn’t just paint landscapes, he lives them. Not your typical art world story, Ben is an award-winning artist and a dedicated educator, balancing two lives that are “inextricably interconnected”, his luminous, impasto oil works speak to the physical weight of paint and the emotional weight of memory.
Known for his richly textured paintings, Ben often paints alla prima – a wet-on-wet application, with vibrant coloured grounds glowing beneath the layers. His strokes are more than a visual offering; they invite you to pause, feel, and immerse in the shifting dance between memory and nature.
“I use a warm base colour, so you’ll see the luminosity coming through,” Ben explains. “That’s deliberate – it mimics the glowing pulse of the natural world and it’s part of the atmosphere I want to carry through my work.”
Growing up in the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Ben’s passion for painting began organically – nurtured by art, architecture and a creative bloodline.
“My dad was an architect who drew everything by hand, and my great uncle, Newton Samuel Hedström, was a 20-time Archibald finalist, so there were always paintings in our home,” Ben shared. “If you grow up around a narrative of art and creativity, you absorb it without even realising.”
It wasn’t until a neighbour and local artist who trained at the National Art School in London, invited Ben and his siblings to paint in her sunroom on weekends that a spark ignited.
“Looking back, there was something special about that cross-generational exchange, and creating space for us to explore creativity,” he said. “It was a beautiful start for me.”
Encouraged by his teachers, by Grade 6 Ben had filled an entire classroom with his paintings and won a gold award at the 20th International Children’s Art Prize – early validation that wasn’t just from his mother – fuelled his confidence and creative path.
“Having someone who represents the institution telling you that you are good really validates you, and as a young person it’s important,” Ben says.
While the coastal landscape of his childhood surroundings imprinted on him early, it would take years after moving to the Sunshine Coast before Ben felt he could paint it authentically.
“I needed to have a personal relationship with the landscape, like I knew it well enough – before I could paint it.”
Being present in the landscape is essential to Ben’s process, visiting the same places repeatedly, often at sunrise, when the world is quiet, and the solitude of his surroundings seeps into his work.
“It provides that meditative aspect, and other than the odd fishermen, there are no figures so it’s a still space,” Ben says.
His palette? A nuanced and deliberate departure from the saturated hues of postcard vistas.
“There’s a complexity in the colour of my landscapes, but not in a stereotypical way,” he says. “If you were to visit Noosa in the middle of the day you’d get really saturated colours – my work doesn’t include that.”
Ben’s recent exhibition, Allisions, at Noosa Regional Gallery, explored the “collision between body and place.” Derived from a nautical term, the title encapsulates Ben’s approach to painting as physical, cognitive, and emotional immersion.
Working from memory, photographs, and small compositional sketches, the photos are never the final image. They are reference points, and the real work comes in building atmosphere, manipulating composition, and balancing the image so it works as a painting – not just a scene.
“I am always making the most of the composition, and the colours come from the memories,” he says. “If I went straight from the photo it wouldn’t look like the painting and there’s artistic licence in the way you build up layers and textures to unify the work and make it pleasing to your audience.”
Having taught visual arts for over 25 years, Ben’s story of balancing artistry with teaching is both compelling and deeply human. It’s not a tale of two competing worlds – there’s no division between his roles from classroom to canvas.
“I bring my art into the classroom, and when I exhibit, I take my students along for the journey,” Ben says, “It gives what I teach in the classroom real-world weight for what it means to live a creative life.”
One of his proudest career moments? A portrait of the band Boy & Bear – painted after-hours in his classroom – being selected as a finalist in the prestigious 2012 Archibald Prize.
“The students watched it progress and as a class we took the painting on the bus to submit it,” he reminisced. “Weeks later, we were standing in front of it on the wall in the Art Gallery of New South Wales – that full-circle moment is something I still share with my Grade 7 class every year.”
Ben’s story of blending passion with profession continues, and as he and partner Leigh adjust to the idea of becoming empty-nesters, he’s preparing to branch out creatively.
“My landscape has changed since our son moved to study in Brisbane – it’s left a space, so I am curious to see what fills it,” Ben reflects.
Ben is now working on a new series – still in his signature impasto style, but more intimate.
“As we enter the seventh year since we relocated, and our son started high school, the seven magnolia’s we planted then are now adult trees,” Ben says. “Flowers are a potent metaphor; they bloom and flourish but also carry a sentiment of mourning. Your relationship with your children changes but it’s not gone, it’s just never going to be what it was.”
Change is part of the journey, and like all good paintings, sometimes you don’t know what it’s becoming until you step back and really look.
“I like ambiguity in art,” he says. “I like art that asks more questions than it answers, if someone feels drawn in, even if they don’t know why – that’s success to me.”
Ben’s work is held in private collections across Australia, the UK, USA, and features in the Sunshine Coast Art Collection, and The G Contemporary, Hastings Street.
Visit www.benhedstrom.com to follow Ben’s artistic journey.
