Jon Cox is an abstract painter-sculptor working primarily with paint on canvas. In his work, he employs clay and other materials as secondary media, to create depth and form.

Returning to Dunedin from Melbourne after a decade of travel, and missing the experience of exploration and creativity that he had found in travel photography, Jon began painting in earnest in 2021.

"Technically, I work to create texture as a key feature of my work. I draw on Modernist, Minimalist and Abstract Expressionist inspiration and am influenced by some of the classic experimentalists in these modes, including Mark Rothko, Yves Klein, Jackson Pollock, more figurative artists such as Joan Miró and Francis Bacon and conceptual artists such as Ralph Hotere and Anish Kapoor.

My practice is intentionally experimental, always trying to find new ways to capture the emotion, visceral reaction or real object I am focusing on, using texture and colour over form. At times I recreate the colour and decay of the buildings and facades of India and the Middle East that I have experienced on my travels or make abstractions of individual photographs.
My canvases show the change over time of the medium as it is layered. I enjoy the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi, which can be understood as finding beauty in imperfection and impermanence."