Benny Uhlenius
Inkoo
Surreal paintings and mystical wood sculptures
Surrealist paintings and mystical wood sculptures form the artistic world of Benny Uhlenius, where another reality and everyday life merge together. Benny’s works open the door to multidimensional worlds. In Uhlenius’s hands, the tree becomes alive, an element that tells a story about the past, the future, or another dimension.
Benny Uhlenius' surreal paintings are like gates to another reality
Behind the gentle face of Benny Uhlenius hides a mysterious and profound thinker with a warm heart. Benny doesn’t see the world in black and white, because deep spirituality and an understanding of the complexity of life are present in his thoughts. Benny’s way of dealing with the things we don’t know deeply and thoughtfully describes his way of being curious and open-minded.
The surrealistic paintings that Benny paints reflect his deep thinking and ability to see the world from a different perspective. He creates paintings where reality and dreamy fantasy merge seamlessly. A dreamlike landscape can be full of unusual encounters and strange combinations that invite the viewer to explore the limits of imagination. Benny Uhlenius is not afraid to bring out the depths of the subconscious, and in his paintings you can encounter abstract symbols that evoke a wide range of emotions and thoughts.
Surreal paintings are like gates to another reality, where every detail seems to carry meaning, and it actually does. Every painting by Uhlenius is always accompanied by a story.
Mysterious wood carvings
Benny Uhlenius’ wood sculptures are fascinating works of art, where the natural beauty of wood is combined with his unique way of finding mysticism in the form hidden inside the tree.
Benny approaches the tree as if he could see its inner rhythm and changes in shape. He removes from the tree what does not move in his mind. When the thing that doesn’t move has been removed, Benny starts to decorate the blank. According to Benny, sometimes it happens that he doesn’t see anything clearly and that moment is when something new is born.
Benny says that wood is both hard and soft at the same time. When carving, the tree meets Benny’s halfway. The wood is easy to work with at first, but the deeper you work, the more the wood starts to resist. Halfway through, what is easy to do turns into a challenge when the wood does not give in, but its hardness is revealed as a resisting force, which requires care and patience from the artist to overcome.
Uhlenius uses only fallen trees as material for his wood sculptures. Each sculpture that emerges from fallen trees requires a lot of time, and Benny incorporates the slowness and patience of nature into the sculpting process. One large sculpture can take up to three years to complete.
Benny’s sculptures are wrapped in a mystical atmosphere. Just as if the wood sculptures were from some other reality or dimension. Each sculpture is like a trip to a completely different world, as if Benny were carving imagined realities through the shape of a tree. The sculptures could also equally be images of the gods of the ancient inhabitants. Benny’s skill as a wood shaper can be seen in the way he creates sculptures that are far from traditional and everyday forms.
