My grandfather, Joseph Lloyd Cox III who resided in Oxford, Ohio, was my first exposure to art. He was an art professor and a professional artist, teaching at Miami University Ohio (I encourage you to look him up), his art styles ranging from sculpting busts to abstract oil paints to font design; he did everything. He was the greatest catalyst to me getting into art. 

Having grown up in Chicago, I had no shortage of exposure to the art world- my grandfather encouraged me to do summer camps at SAIC (School of the Art Institute Chicago). Despite loving art, I found I wasn’t overly fond of these camps as I didn’t like being told what to make and how to go about art mediums, granted these camps at least exposed me to the Art Institute in Chicago, a museum which later became a safe haven of sorts. 

In middle school (I went to a Montessori school so we did strange things), we visited the Art Institute and some of us had found our way into the Modern Wing. From there, some of us (mind you we were aged 12-14) wandered into an installation that shut you in a room with looping projections of scary clowns. I loved it, especially since it got such a jarring reaction from my peers. That same year, I was shown Adicolor Black. To this day, that video stands as one of my biggest inspirations. 

I  didn’t do much visual art until college, however I attended a performing arts high school for dance, The Chicago High School For The Arts, so I never really escaped the grasp of art. At that school, I became infatuated with human reactions, sound and visuals, and began to embrace how much I loved unsettling genres. Now, as an art student, I strive to create pieces which you either cannot stop looking at, or never want to look at again.