Embrace
Embrace.
Oil
on Canvas.
16x20in.
Benjamin J. Young.
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About The Oil Painting
Based on February 26th, 2020: “You’ve grown tired, have’t you dear?”, she reassured. “It was too difficult. I’m so sorry. I failed you”, was my excuse. My stature felt different, like the weighing years had melted off and I was almost floating. She snuck in closer and whispered in my ear with her arms wrapped around me, “I understand. It’s alright now. It’s time to rest.” “Just five more minutes? You know how much I missed this”, I pleaded like an innocent child. “I suppose. Maybe you’ll see me when you awake, but it’s a surprise”, as she somehow wrapped herself around me even more. It was just like her to say something alluring like that. A cold winter wind blew against my neck and creeped throughout the rest of my body, but it felt as though a warmth was melting me asleep. My eyes grew heavy as my head dropped on to her soft shoulder. It was becoming too difficult to fight to stay awake, but I was already asleep. I expelled my last bit of energy to muster up one last, “I really missed you.” Finally closing my eyelids and letting go, drifting off. Was this really her loving hug again, after all these years? Or was this just me, making the rounds in my head, to embrace death?
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This painting is apart of the Feb 26th Collection
This oil painting captures an intimate embrace between a man and a woman, rendered in a dramatic and moody style. The couple is dressed in dark clothing, their bodies entwined as they hold each other closely. Their faces are partially obscured by shadows, emphasizing the emotional depth of their connection rather than individual expressions. The background is a deep, textured black, enhancing the contrast and drawing attention to the warm highlights on their skin and hair.
Inspiration
Embrace is a small taste of the narrative I have been trying to ready myself in to painting. Released specifically on December 20th, a date very important and tragic to me. While this surreal painting is set on February 26th, 2020, the prior December 20th had marked the sixth year anniversary of the loss of the woman in the painting. Those six years were a living hell for me. I didn’t want to live through another anniversary. Nor to survive this ordeal in to my 30s. I had planned out my demise for that December 20th, but by pure happenstance, that plan had been delayed. In those final moments before I would fall in to the darkness, this is the acceptance I have illustrated of that private moment. The irony that very acceptance was what allowed the loving man that was lost before to finally return back. The courage gained from facing death would finally allow me to face the loss that caused so much pain the six years prior.
Accolades
- Featured in the 2025 Door 2 Art Show at Door 2 Art.