Meet Jimmy Fike | Photographer and Art Professor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jimmy Fike and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jimmy, how do you think about risk?
I think all artists, and especially art majors, have taken a real leap of faith in our society when they dedicate their lives to art. You have to have a real belief in your inner-calling and know that you may need to forge a unique path and risk privations. I’m not necessarily unique in this regard, it is a risk all artists take. I’m fortunate in that I’ve navigated this risky path fairly successfully. In my continent spanning photographic series on wild edible plantsI took on a quixotic risk – a decades long project to photograph wild edible plants from all across the continental U.S.. I’ve spent countless hours alone in the landscape searching for plants in national forests and learned about botany from scratch. These kinds of risks are exciting to me – a worthy challenge that animates my work.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Since 2007, I’ve been creating a photographic archive depicting North America’s rich trove of wild comestible flora. I have completed field work in fifteen different states, so far, and have amassed a collection of over one hundred and fifty specimens. My goal of being able to mount biome specific exhibitions across the United States is in reach. The work sprung from a disillusionment with the position of landscape photography in relation to pressing threats like climate change, extinction, pollution, alienation and the loss of commons. To earnestly address these problems, I felt a radically different artistic strategy was necessary. My thinking was propelled and influenced by Beuys’ ideas on social sculpture, the Eco-feminist artists of the 1970’s, Buddhism, systems theory, Native American spirituality and the Socially Engaged Practice movement. I wanted to invent a new type of photography that emphasized connection, efficacy, ecology, had utility (something unique in the history of fine art photography but a mainstay of art/craft production in cultures with close binds to nature), was egalitarian without sacrificing theoretical depth, and embodied a generous spirit.
By employing a system that makes it easy to identify both the plant and its edible parts, the images work as reliable guides for foraging. This concrete, functional aspect of the project directs viewers to free food that can be used for sustenance, or as raw material for creative economies. Recognizing plants anew outside the gallery or eating the plants is, in itself, art.
Beyond functionality, I construct the images to operate on multiple levels theoretically and perceptually. Upon patient viewing the botanicals begin to transcend the initial appearance of scientific illustration – they begin to writhe and pulsate trying to communicate with you about their edible parts. The plants illustrate a cycle of death and rebirth, psychopomps, guiding viewers through a process of psychological transformation. To achieve this layered aesthetic the photographs are meticulously constructed. I photograph multiple specimens of the same plant and combine the best elements from each to create an archetypal rendering. This subtle reference to shamanic scrying and other mystical forms of seeing nudges the work towards the spiritual. In Buddhism they speak of Dependent Origination, “If this exists, that exists; if this ceases to exist, that also ceases to exist.” My work embodies this concept. I often find myself marveling at the intricate web of overlapping systems and sheer length of time – incomprehensible fathoms of time – it took to develop this symbiosis. I hope viewers carry this numinous experience back out into the landscape, into their communities and see the landscapes that surround them in a wonder-filled way. This work offers a dose of something palliative for the ills of alienation – a sense of connection to a certain place, a certain ecosystem, a type of belonging. I hope the photographic survey can serve as a historical archive of botanical life during an era of extreme change, and provide viewers all over the country an opportunity to build bonds with their landscapes that will inspire greater concern for environmental issues.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I live near Roosevelt row and am partial to many of the spots downtown. A great itinerary would be tacos at Taco Boys, beers at AZ wilderness, followed by a show at the Valley Bar. Then the next day get geared up and head west to KOFA for a few days camping in that spectacular landscape.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I had some great photography professor along the way; Sonja Rieger and Carl Toth. My grandmother, Alva Hill enlivened my imagination with stories of adventures and shared her knowledge of Alabama’s natural areas, histories and plants and animals.

Website: www.jimmyfike.com

Instagram: @jimmyfike

Other: @scrappy_and_me

Image Credits
Book Cover of Edible Plants published by Red Lightning Books, March 2022 all images copyrighted/credit to Jimmy Fike