Ian Cox-Leigh is a Toronto based artist and photographer. His work focuses on our emotional responses to the environments around us. Ian is often interested in exploring the quiet beauty that can be found in forgotten subjects – be they empty industrial parks, or dead and gnarled trees. However, he is also interested in working with subjects of undeniable natural splendour. In attempting to explore the essential characteristics of the land in his images, Ian hopes to foster through his work the same sort of connection with the world around us that experiencing these natural places offers. Being out in such natural settings provides an overwhelming sense of revitalization and rejuvenation – regardless of the character of the place. Ian's hope is to bring some small measure of that powerful effect through his images.
Ian's photographs reveal his passion for balanced and harmonious compositions. Whether exploring the grandeur of some great mountain landscape or working in the realm of more intimate subject matter, Ian's images often rely on strongly structured compositions that provide a natural harmony in his images.
Inspiration comes from a wide variety of sources for Ian, but among the most influential are the later, more abstract works of the Canadian painter Lawren Harris. Harris' ability to distill the essence of the Canadian landscape into his sparse compositions, and yet still provide a strong emotional connection and a sense of place, serves as a model for Ian. He also has a strong interest in fully abstract art and a particular passion for the De Stijl school as well as Canadian painters Bordouas and Riopelle. Such influences are less directly visible in Ian's photography, but, they underpin many of his artistic sensibilities. Photographers such as Josef Hoflehner, Mitch Dobrowner, David Burdeny, David Johndrow, and many others also help inform and inspire Ian's work.
Ian Cox-Leigh Photography – Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Copyright 2011.