HomeArtArtists › J.W. Fike's Photography Examines Native Botanicals
 
 
 

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Jim Fike effortlessly blends art and science resulting in engaging and truly beautiful photography while presenting everyday local botanicals in a new and refreshing new light.

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His black and white photographs are simple yet modern featuring various plant species, highlighting the delicate roots and stems. The artist takes a place-based approach to his photography examining his medium in relation to subject, audience and site. When asked about his work Fike said, “I strive to create images that function as conduits in a uniquely charged space connecting art, science and spirituality.”

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His images are carefully created by excavating the plant, arranging and photographing it in the studio, then digitally rendering the edible parts in color while the remaining can be read as contact prints. He has photographed over one hundred plants in seven different states with plans to survey the entire continental United State Creating striking photography of various local botanicals that gracefully float in a black expanse that reference traditional photograms and contact prints, as well as what he calls visions from the collective unconscious.. “My work actively engages the community by utilizing relevant contextual information, interdisciplinary research, and an elegant if slightly spellbinding aesthetic”, states Fike.

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Fike was formally trained receiving his Bachelors of Arts with Concentrations in Drawing and Photography from Auburn University continuing on to earn his Masters of Fine Art in Photography from the Cranbrook Academy of Art under the tutelage of Carl Toth. He has been busy exhibiting his work at galleries around the nation including Founders Hall Gallery at Soka University, Transition Gallery at Idaho State University, just to name a few. This past October Fike  had a solo exhibition of his work in Bokeh Gallery at the monOrchid in Downtown Phoenix titled Photographic Survey of the Wild Edible Botanicals of Arizona. The show received wonderful reviews from the community and extensive media coverage as well as a special visit from Mayor Stanton of Phoenix.

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Recently Fike’s work became apart of the permanent collection of the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film. His artwork has been featured in numerous publications both online and in print including F-Stop Magazine, the L.A. Times, Java Magazine, Downtown Phoenix Journal, the Paradise Valley Independent Newspaper and Phoenix New Times. In addition to his art career, Fike is an Art Faculty Member and the Exhibitions Coordinator at Estrella Mountain College. To learn more about Jim Fike visit him online at http://jimfike.blogspot.com. *All images are courtesy and copyright of artist Jim Fike and Nicole Royse.

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