FIVE x SEVEN Interview: Food is Art for Katharyn Addcox

Compost Heap by Katharyn Addcox

Arthouse\’s 5x7
Sunday, May 16
Whitley Building (301 Brazos St.)
Free!
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Chicago based artist Katharyn Addcox found her calling outside of the windy city. In the small community of Caledonia (population 199 in 2000) she met the owner of an organic farm. Addcox wanted to understand the allure of farming - especially the farming done by hand, without the use of chemicals and huge factory-farm equipment. Her photography began to focus on two women, Kendall and Barb, neighbors who in Kendall's case had recently started an organic farm and was learning from Barb's lifelong career of sustainable farming. Addcox's photography is documentarian in nature, exposing the day to day realities of a simpler way of life - a simpler way of life that requires significantly more work in a day than most of us city-folk will undertake in months.

Addcox is one of nearly a thousand artists participating in this year's 5x7 show and sale benefiting Arthouse. The exhibition concludes its Austin run today and will be open from 11am to 6pm. Admission is free.

What motivated you to participate in this year's 5x7? Have you been in the show before?

Even though I don't live in Austin, or Texas for that matter, I have known about Arthouse for some time now and have been impressed with their commitment to provide opportunities to local artists and to educate the community about contemporary art so the least I can do is offer a few photos to help them raise some money. I have never participated in the show before.

Your work has a distinct agricultural focus. Can you talk about your views on the current state of American agriculture?

Unfortunately, I feel that the recent push to live and eat green is only a trend but after getting involved with local growers in Illinois I have come to understand that there are a few individuals that are wholeheartedly concerned about the condition of our food and how we can impact the environment with the decisions we make in the grocery store.

How did you become interested in photographing farms, farmers, and ag land?

It all started when I saw an exhibit of Edward Burtynsky's work in Toronto back in 2005. I was captivated by his images and even more so by the idea that images could influence the way someone views the world. At the time I lived in Cleveland, OH and had a grandfather living south of the city in a rural town named Wooster. On the drives out to visit him I would think about how the land out there was thriving, not with people or buildings but with rows of corn fields. At first, my work was a response to the transformation that has taken place in this country due to agriculture. Most folks think of those areas as being "natural" but they are far from it. Once I delved deeper and learned why the land was being transformed the work started to become a cause and effect depiction of agriculture's dilemmas and why these transformations were taking place. Then the most recent work was a result of my wanting to focus on the growers themselves, primarily organic and sustainable. I happened to get connected with two women that I admired for their selfless acts of nurturing the land and providing food for their community.

Continue reading this post after the jump for Addox's photography tips and more.