Dr. Desiree Cox
Oil Paint
BIO
Dr. Desirée Cox (www.desireecox.com), was born in The Bahamas. Educated at McGill University (Montreal, Canada) and Oxford University (UK) and Cambridge University (UK), she is the First Bahamian Rhodes scholar and First Woman from the British Caribbean to win a Rhodes Scholarship, a medical doctor, creative artist, inventor, and global thought leader in stem cell and regenerative medicine. In January 2019 Cox was one of 5 International Action Award recipients at the 2019 World Stem cell Summit, held at the Hyatt Regency, Miami; in 2018 she was a speaker at the & Unite to Cure & conference at the Vatican; in 2017 she was one of six outstanding Pembroke College, Oxford University alumni whose photographic portraits hung in the Great Hall at Pembroke College 2017-2018. These select alumni are persons whom the Governing Body and Art Committee of Pembroke College, Oxford University, have determined are distinguishing themselves in their respective professional fields, are thought-leaders, have achieved prominence in the public eye and especially through focusing their expertise on social impact. At the 40th Independence Celebrations, in 2013, the Bahamas Government honored Dr. Cox by issuing a 70-cent stamp into circulation bearing her photograph.
Dr. Cox is a bridge-builder advancing future health innovation both in The Bahamas and internationally. Her 20+ years experience in the healthcare space in the UK, Europe, North America and The Bahamas combines an impressive, rare and unique range of skills and capacities gained from a career that has spanned clinical medicine, academia, research and development, regulatory sciences, and the design, development and implementation of high–impact health and social enterprises. Her experience in health care consulting includes consulting for biotech companies and major pharmaceutical companies including Amgen, GSK and Novartis on pipeline therapeutic products and medical devices. She is rigorous in promoting safety, equity, diversity and inclusion in healthcare. Her vast experience includes clinical medicine, academia, research and development, regulatory sciences, design and consultant to biotech companies, governments and major pharmaceutical companies. She is the recipient of numerous international awards and has published in numerous trade and academic journals.
Artist Statement
Creativity is the life-blood for my work, my art and my life. I have been described as a mixed media artist and a ‘Renaissance Woman’; I prefer not to categorize myself. I am a Rhodes Scholar, Medical Doctor and PhD, and, more recently, a thought-leader in Stem Cell, and Regenerative Medicine. I am also a jazz-singer, writer and visual artist. For me, arts, music, the sciences, and entrepreneurship in biotechnology and regenerative health are interconnected and inextricably linked. I am grateful to be able to express my creativity and speak my truth using the symbolism of word and stories, as well as sound and color. I am thrilled to be on a journey of creative mastery, and creative mystery. I am grateful for my health, my family and for so many loving relationships in my life.
Artist Statement
The ‘color chords’ (color combinations) of my paintings draw from public art form known as ‘Junkanoo’ developed in The Bahamas, the place of my birth. Three affirmations I have found inspiring in my life long evolution as an artist in general, and my decade-plus journey as a visual artist and painter in particular are: Your gifts will make room for you’, (a version of Proverbs 18:16); ‘Do what makes you come alive’, (Harold Whitman); and ‘Reality is comprised of those myths we haven’t quite seen through’ (Joseph Campbell).
Since 2007 my art work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions in Nassau, The Bahamas (the country of my birth), London (UK), and in the US in Memphis, NYC, and Las Vegas. With my exhibitions, I connect visual and performing arts with fiction in order to create sacred spaces where people can travel through the doorways of the imagination to worlds that inspire them. People often say, ‘Desiree, where do you find time to paint, and create and I do all the things you do?’ I don’t see life that way. Life is life: Life doesn’t make sense, it just is. My job is to follow the force and direction of my life-force; and to express the life-force within me in the ways that I am drawn to. I love to paint; when I’m drawn to it. Oil on canvas is my preferred medium for visual art. Creating space for art and for painting is like opening a big bay window with both arms, closing my eyes, feeling the fresh air and sunshine on my face and body, taking a deep breath in, and then opening my eyes and exhaling.
Image Gallery
Here is some of my artwork for you to look at. If you're interested in purchasing any pieces, please feel free to reach out to me via email. You can find my email address above.