UNDERWENT - Rachel Cox
September 25, 2024 - March 25, 2025
The artists in this exhibition use their practices to express, research, and process personal experiences. The art practice becomes a partner in the evolution of understanding, the continual processing of something they have undergone. A variety of mediums and techniques within this exhibition reveal a glimpse into an ongoing exchange. In the artwork, an idea of feeling can escape. this visual release allows the artist to externalize and examine an experience in its fluctuating moments, intricacies, and depths. Vulnerability is present in the sharing of a personal experience that allows an internal dialogue to manifest outside of ourselves and resonate with others.
One of the featured artists in this exhibition is Rachel Cox. Her current research reveals the personal and cultural stigmas associated with female infertility. This complex narrative is told through the lens of her journey with multiple years of miscarriage, emergency abortion care for nonviable pregnancies, invitro fertilization cycles, and eventual egg adoption which led to the birth of her daughter. The images Cox shares are a form of subjective documentation that is not only deeply personal, but relatable for approximately 7.3 million women identifying patients who have received medical care for infertility in the US.
For Cox, portraits of partner and self-administered injections celebrate a profound sense of intimacy and self-empowerment. Cox recalls, "The pictures have taught me that women are more than their reproductive potential, and meaningful connections with those you love can still thrive through loss. I use my body, and my grief, as a site to reclaim a sense of self."
Rachel Cox is a contemporary artist working primarily in the disciplines of image-based media. She earned her BFA from the University of North Texas and her MFA in Photography form the University of New Mexico. Cox currently lives in Iowa City where she is an Associate Professor of Photography at The University of Iowa.
Rachel Cox, Capable of Life, Palladium Print, 2023, 14" x 14"
