Light and energy radiate off the imaginative paintings currently at the Air Gallery. The work is of Desiree Cox - a unique Bahamian artist whose paintings combines her medical background with mythical worlds and conscious and unconscious explorations.
Sounds a bit out there, yet when studying the oil canvases of 'Outside In' you are instantly drawn in to another place. Desiree refers to this as ‘turning outside in and inside out’, a phrase referring to your true self. This can only be understood when taking in each one of the textures and bright colour schemes she uses to release and balance the mind.
Many of the paintings have corresponding poems that are equally uplifting. - viz lines such as ‘Moonlight silver surfing on crushed cotton pillows’. The vision is further clarified when viewing the carefully constructed canvases with their varied textured peaks and valleys, illuminating colour chords and sense of joyous movements.
Born in Nassau in 1965, Cox moved to Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship to study medicine. She also bagged an MA in medical history at Cambridge, and a PhD in the philosophy of medicine. This gave her a curiosity to embrace an alternative form of healing.
Her innovative blend of medicine and creativity encouraged her to start the UK charity Performing Cures, which connects hospitals through live music, art and dramatic performances. She also started the Universal Soul Project, which enables children to confidently express themselves. Her students' work is showcased at the exhibition.
Combining science with art and poetry is always tricky to pull off, but Cox does so with brevity and flair. Her brash strokes and colourful palettes are derived from a place deep within the soul - a place she encourages everyone to look into.
Air Gallery is at 32 Dover St. The exhibition can be viewed 10.30am-6pm. Saturday is the final day.
By Tiffany Pritchard
