About the Artist
Graham Fox
Visual Artist, Author
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 ran for 10 years.
In 2019 Graham officially “retired” and spends his time looking after the acreage and focusing more formally on his art and writing.
"Photography for me is mostly about observing and now I feel the need to use a medium which is more about saying - something to say, rather than just to show ."
"My visual art work includes photography and mixed media (principally pastels and graphite combined with digital imaging).
My writing is an exploration of Zen in poetry and prose."
"I cannot emphasize enough the influence Zen has had on my work in the visual arts. It is really the wellspring from which all flows."
Artist’s Statement
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, finally we see what is really there.
It is, if you like, a distillation of life. And what do we see in this distillate? – purity, beauty, love, truth? I don’t know, it is not for me to say.
This is why we look at art. The job of the artist is merely to roll back the curtain.
