The artist known as The Ox remembers the moment he realised the need to explore his work alone.
“To better my training, I decided to take a watercolour class in Los Angeles,” he says. “Six weeks, three hour per class, twice per week…And, the only decent piece I came away with was an 8 by 10-inch painting of an apple. That was it. The teacher was wonderful, but I couldn’t take on the techniques effectively. I discovered that I learn best by doing my own way – by feel and by experimentation.”
The Ox works under that unlikely name to separate his visual art from his other career as a writer. He chose that beast of burden image because he believes in working diligently and consistency above anything else. He signs all of his work with the Arabic symbol for cattle — a design that would invert in the western alphabet and become the letter A.
“I felt comfortable with ‘The Ox’ because I was never a believer in waiting for inspiration to write something or create art,” he explains. “Over the years, I’ve known many talented artists of different types who waited for inspiration. When it didn’t come along often enough, they either failed to produce enough material or slowly lost passion for their work altogether. When I make something I really like, it’s wonderful and inspiring – but I look to get the work done, good or bad. Keep it going. If a painting doesn’t work out, scrap it and move to the next.”
As a writer in his daily life, The Ox insists he must perform to a certain standard to satisfy editors and publishers. While he always enjoys that written work, he decided to use his artwork as an escape from rules and reviews.
“My paintings and mixed media works are my escape from any professional or public expectations,” he says. “My art pleases me, first and foremost. I love it when others enjoy my artwork, but, when I set up my current studio space, I remember thinking aloud: “If I never sell a single piece, that’s all right.’ I’m doing this for me and my enjoyment – for the sheer sake of making something.”
That philosophy bears out in The Ox’s artist statement from his website, www.artofox.com: “Self-taught and experimental, The Ox wants only to make things that did not exist before he made them. He gives inspiration no more responsibility than that, creating with enthusiasm and gratitude and welcoming any meaning or significance from the viewer. He hopes everyone enjoys the finished products as he plows ahead with intent and without pretence.”
Based in the U.S., The Ox saw his work featured in exhibits throughout the U.S. from California to Pennsylvania – and in London just prior to the pandemic. He works on canvas, wood or metal. Sticking to painting most of the time, he occasionally ventures into sculpture or mixed media pieces blending the line between two and three dimensional art. “I find folks tend to understand artwork more easily if I keep my pieces grouped in collections and series,” he explains. “Still, if a sudden flash of inspiration does show itself, I like to capture it and act on it immediately. For example, I was working on my exploration of loneliness – a series of simple, monochromatic images entitled, ‘The Sound of Blood in the Ears.’ In the midst of that. I came across a collection of old cords and had the idea for a mixed media piece, ‘Electric Medusa.’ I set the series aside and got that more elaborate mythology piece done right away.”
The first major collection The Ox completed was The Cypher Series. Combining letters, numbers and other symbols in various fonts, the show gathers 100 monochromatic designs on 14×11-inch canvases. The gathered works explore pareidolia or seeing patterns in random data.
“The first thing we look for as we leave the womb is the face of our mother,” The Ox adds. “We go on looking for that human recognition for the rest of our lives. As society wraps itself in impersonal technology and the age of narcissism drives people to put forward false fronts, the world is transforming us all into random, depersonalised data. The Cypher Series reassembles black and white symbols into human beings.”
The Cypher Series might be the best example of The Ox exploring exactly how simple of an image he can produce to tell a story and generate an emotional response. Still, he tests the same elegant simplicity in his portrait collections Hello Ladies and Your Face Escapes Me. The latter explores The Ox’s appreciation for rebels.
“Using stark black and white, Your Face Escapes Me includes a group of people I admired for afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted,” The Ox says. “Whether it’s MLK or Dali or Darwin or Frida Kahlo, all the paintings I completed in that early set honour someone we remember for their defiance.”
Most recently, The Ox began experimenting with layered images using acrylic plastic sheets and occasional glass added to standard canvas painted in oil, acrylic or ink. Grouping those works under the S-H-A-T-T-E-R-E-D banner, The Ox blends or repeats portraits and images to explore how humans obscure their identities. In some cases, he breaks the glass and and plastic plains – scattering orreassembling images to tell stories of brokenness or healing.
While he set out to please himself with every piece he creates, The Ox considers himself fortunate enough to sell several pieces to galleries and private collectors. Just as he taught himself to paint in different styles, he needed to learn how to spread the word on his own.
“There’s the virtual world and online galleries that a diligent artist must explore and utilise,” he says. “Obviously, that includes using social media and art forums. Still, there’s endless competition in a sea of artists. I don’t wish tocompete with any of them. I just want the world to know about what I do in its own time.”
The Ox believes – even though he or she can and should market their work online constantly – the modern artist still faces the same challenges and the same search for opportunities as artists from previous centuries.
“We’re out there looking for exposure – for that sponsor or patron or gallery agent that believes in the work and will support, promote and help to fund creating art – so that effort can continue at speed. That’s always the goal. I think a true artist wants to be set free to create and create and create without having to worry about constant marketing, applying for shows, and making the world aware.”
While he searches for that sponsor or agent, The Ox counts it a happy day when he finishes that latest painting.
“Until I find that support – until that dream comes true – I’m happy enough in my studio working on my next piece, and the next, and the next. You can find me there.”
WEB: www.artofox.com