Artist Statement

The paintings and drawings I create are intended to build bridges between the past, present, and future for both individuals and ALL groups of people, through stylistic ideas and expressions that crossover into many genres.  Historically, my interest in art draws from cubism at the beginning of the 20th century.  In contemporary terms, I am known for creating images that relate to elements of urban architecture, highlighting areas of the city where I lived and worked.  My intention was to create a kind of architectonic lyricism, which later became the catalyst for other subjects and genres.  Much of my work still combines elements of cubism and deconstructionism, thus combining my interests in musical composition and its relationship to my visual world.  A change in rhythm can be compared to a change in line, weight, brushstroke, value, and pitch.  Though my work has characteristics of abstract art, I encourage my viewers to reexamine material culture through my art. Therefore, my abstraction is not entirely non-objective.  It is semi-abstraction.  In recent years, my work has increasingly transitioned into bolder, brighter colors, as a shift in mood and tempo creates drawings that originate as studies and become essential to my process.  The forms seem to grow like plants and flowers, interweaving together in my vivid pictorial arena.  While incorporating shapes that reference biomorphic forms in nature and internal human anatomy, I combine recognizable imagery placed in natural and man-made environments to create paintings that celebrate the enduring positive spirit of humanity through passionate color.  This use of vibrant color adds a dreamy and playful quality to my work.  As a child, I was passionate about putting my interpretation of the world around me on paper, later forging those images into paintings.  I want the child I once was to be represented in my paintings on a visceral level and simultaneously express the refinement of a maturing culmination.  The personal becomes universal, as art is an important way for me to communicate and subsequently build relationships with others.  My work is a spiritual testimony to the visual experiences that arouse my senses.  As I examine and interpret the world around me, I seek to share an exquisite interplay of subtle and bold.

Cedric Michael Cox 2025