Graham Fox
“Six Foot of Separation” – silkscreen print
Canada
“For me art is about capturing the essence of a thing, whatever it may be. The simplified form, the single line, empty space, all distractions removed. In this way it mirrors Zen thinking. It is an expression of my Zen thinking just as my poetry is – a Zen wave you might say!”
Graham Fox was born in Exeter, England in 1957 after a largely uneventful childhood, Graham studied medicine and science embarking on a career in research science. However the arts proved too great a pull and in a change of direction he abandoned his science career and took up photography whilst holding down a series of regular jobs. At the same time Graham became a student of Zen and to this day Zen has a huge influence on all of his work. In 2002 Graham and his wife Julie moved to Canada so that Julie could pursue her career in science. Living in Calgary Graham opened an art gallery along with two other artists, selling a mix of photographs and digitally created images. Another change of direction took Graham and Julie to Oliver in the South Okanagan where they designed and built a pet boarding kennel, which they run very happily to this day.
On the art front, although still doing some photography, Graham has moved into mixed media, principally pastels and graphite combined with digital imaging. In addition to this Graham has written two books of Zen poetry, currently available on Amazon.
“I can’t emphasize enough the influence Zen has had on my work in the visual arts, it really is the wellspring from which all flows.”
For more information about the artist, check out: Graham Fox on Instagram