Dwjuan F. Fox: Memory in Bloom
Among Fox’s most personally significant works is Shango In Big Daddy’s Garden, a piece steeped in memory, legacy, and spiritual symbolism. Inspired by his grandfather’s backyard filled with roses, the artwork serves as both tribute and meditation. His grandfather, a World War II veteran and respected community figure, embodied a blend of strength, complexity, and quiet resilience that stayed with Fox long after his death. The garden, lovingly cultivated over decades, became a metaphor for the man himself—layered, rich with contrasts, and unexpectedly tender. Years later, while restoring his grandfather’s long-abandoned home, Fox experienced a striking event. After a week of storms, both literal and emotional, the contractor called with unexpected news: the roses had bloomed again for the first time in years.
That moment became the catalyst for the creation of Shango In Big Daddy’s Garden, a work that fused personal ancestry with cultural mythology. Shango, the Yoruba deity of thunder and justice, stands as a powerful emblem of transformation and righteous strength. By placing Shango in his grandfather’s garden, Fox layered the spiritual and familial into a shared visual narrative. Executed using a mix of media, the piece bridges past and present, loss and regeneration. It is not just a portrait of remembrance, but a declaration that the roots we come from continue to bloom through us, especially during moments of upheaval and rebirth.
Fox’s current practice reflects the same sense of intimate connection to land, memory, and nature. Recently returned from filming in the wild terrains of Montana and Oregon, he has gathered a new body of textures, impressions, and inspiration. Captivated by how water shapes stone and how forests reclaim space, he is incorporating these observations into a new collection titled Series Six. Building a kiln on his own property, he is extending his work into ceramics and textiles, giving physical form to themes of pressure, transformation, and organic resilience. With each project, Fox continues to explore not only what it means to create, but what it means to live with full awareness of the world’s beauty, pain, and infinite potential.
