Cornelius Tulloch is a Miami-based interdisciplinary artist and designer. With work transcending the barriers of photography, fine art, and architecture, Cornelius focuses on how creative mediums can be combined to tell powerful stories.Whether it is through photography or painting, cinematic moments and spatial complexity are depicted in his work. Lighting and color become characters in the art. His unique storytelling through his work has been shown in fairs and museums like the Kennedy Center, Washington D.C.; Pulse Art Fair, Miami, FL; and the Museo Nazionale Delle Arti Del XXI Secolo, Rome, Italy.
From being recognized as 2016 Presidential Scholar in the Arts to having his work added to the permanent collection of the Studio Museum in Harlem, much of his success has come from the important discussions his work has created; which often are inspired by his cultural background. Being raised in Miami and gaining inspiration from his Jamaican and African American heritage, his work expresses how bodies exist between cultures, borders, and characteristics, to create spatial impact. Cornelius is an emerging talent that is reshaping the boundaries of art and space.
Artist Statement
Speculative of the performance of identity, my work engages in contemporary cultural dialogue. I render the phenomenological qualities of culture visible. Black and Caribbean narratives are explored through depicting objects that serve as cultural icons and physical spaces that foster the building of identity. As an interdisciplinary artist and designer my work transcends the boundaries of mediums and disciplines with the intent of impactful storytelling.
This work comes from an understanding of ethos through artistic repertoire and an analytical eye informed by architectural training. I analyze and depict the phenomenological qualities that express the spirit of what makes our cultures; what habits develop us into individuals, and place us within a larger societal context. I am curious about depicting the aspects of our human habits, language, and essence that expresses who we are beyond the immediate representation of our body.
Growing up between Miami and Jamaica, I saw how my two cultural heritages melded and clashed creating moments of homogeneity and of multiplicity. A cultural consciousness was formed as my own identity subconsciously shifted between these two spaces. This shaped my understanding of identity as an active and ever changing landscape; one being constantly molded by a field of influences, experiences, understandings, and desires.