Adkins’s work straddles the line between documentary and fine art—from the bold, confrontational and colorful images in her latest project, Queen, a look at what it means to be a drag queen in the deep South, to her black and white photographs from her series MIDWAY, an exploration of the carnival. Her more introspective projects include Walks with Wren where, in addition to capturing the natural environment on walks with her daughter during the Covid pandemic, she also begins to play with the concept of creating images in a new way, arranging found objects and photographing them. In her series Un/Natur/al, she curates images she has taken over the years that reflect the overlap of the natural world with man-made influences.

Regardless of subject, the common theme that persists throughout her work is the notion of layers. In some work, this presents itself in a literal way, with overlapping visual planes. In others, this is purely metaphorical and it comes not only from the subjects she photographs but more subtly, herself, as an artist and the infinite layers she presents and reflects in her work. Her images create a dialogue with viewers, to not only think about the more obvious layers but to reflect on those that are hidden.