Between Dog & Wolf (installation view)

Ben Reeves is an artist based in Vancouver, BC. In his practice, Reeves uses a heavy, layered application of paint and mixed media, along with deep and cohesive colour palettes, to create works that express familiar themes and landscapes in a new and fascinating light.

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I’m really enjoying the works in Reeve’s recent series Between Dog & Wolf. The works in this series comprise a number of dense landscapes and scenes, varying in size from relatively small, to wall-sized compositions. Several of the works seem to depict an arrangement of tents amid sparse, alien-looking trees. The heavy, dark blue palette and repetition of similar forms creates a mysterious atmosphere in these paintings, and their placement in the gallery across from a smaller, brighter landscape builds further intrigue.

In previous works, Reeves has looked at the way water -- specifically, raindrops -- serves to refract light and images. In some paintings, a gesturally-painted figure is partially obscured by large, textured blobs of thick oil paint, serving as raindrops on a car window or another surface.

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