Mixed-media artist and photographer Edward Bock uses textures, colors, and media to create abstract paintings and fine art photography. Bock draws much of his artistic inspiration from his fascination with the shapes and movements found in the natural world. As a boy, he spent hours knee-deep in the swamps and creeks near his home in St. Louis, Missouri, collecting specimens and immersing himself in the sights, sounds, and sensations around him. His passion led him to initially focus on science-related classes in college. But after attending a Mass Communications class at the University of Miami, he became fascinated with filmmaking and photography. With a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications, he served in the U.S. Army as a motion picture photographer for informational documentaries. Bock went on to work for a private communications firm before launching his own multimedia and commercial photography business.
In addition to his commercial work, he created original art by melding images of patterns, textures, and various subjects, experimenting with color palettes, exposure times, and image layering. He added painting and carving figurative shapes from acrylic panels to his artistic process.
In 2006, Bock closed his commercial photography studio in Minneapolis to focus on painting. As he likes to say, “I put down the camera and picked up a brush.”

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

De-structure your need for meaning and understanding of symbols to allow the feeling and energy to enter you. Experiencing the painting as a whole becomes its meaning. I explore and reframe patterns, colors, shapes, and textures, seeing the relationships that show up, and take joy in that experience.