Artist Talk with Rachel Cox

Join us on Thursday, October 24th, from 5 – 6 PM for an artist talk with Rachel Cox.

FROM THE ARTIST:
In 2021 I had my first miscarriage. Over the course of the next three years, I underwent surgical procedures to increase my chances of conception, began in vitro fertilization (IVF), accessed emergency abortion care, and, with my partner Matt, adopted a donor egg which led to the birth of our daughter.

We are at a critical moment in history where birthing people have lost federal protections for the right to decide how and when they will build their families. The lack of fact-based information around reproductive health is widespread and contributes to mass misinformation which infects the social, cultural, and political landscape of this country.

The photographs I make examine personal and cultural stigmas associated with female infertility while also raising awareness for the millions of people who seek to build their families though assisted reproductive technologies (ART).

Notes on Care is a selection of pieces which reflect on the action of care; the various moments that require care, starting with the self, and traveling as far as the care taken to honor an embryo meant for implantation. I look forward to discussing these ideas alongside broader research centered on the history of female bodies in works of art, the complexities of self-portraiture, and current statistical information on assisted reproductive technologies.

RACHEL COX: 

Rachel Cox is an artist, educator, and feminist with a deep commitment to crafting image-based works of art which challenge cultural and social conventions pertaining to reproduction and care. Cox holds an MFA in Photography from the University of New Mexico and a BFA in Photography from the University of North Texas. Her work has been featured widely in the U.S. and abroad including the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center, the Des Moines Art Center; Southeast Museum of Photography; The Atlanta Contemporary Art Center; The Houston Center for Photography; The Belfast International Photography Festival, The Musee de l’Elysee, Lausanne, Switzerland; Baijia Art Museum in Nanjing, China; Museo Amparo, Pueblo, Mexico, and Photo London. Cox’s projects have been recognized with numerous awards including an Iowa Arts Project Grant, the 2024 Visionary Project Award through Film Photo & Kodak, and is a finalist for the 2025 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, hosted and exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC

Cox’s prints are included in the collections of The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, The Des Moines Arts Center, The Southeast Museum of Photography, The Museum of Contemporary Photography, The Musee de l’Elysee, and The University of North Texas Special Collections. Rachel Cox currently lives in Iowa City, IA where she is an Associate Professor of Photography at The University of Iowa.