beingandbecoming

Being and Becoming is a conversation between self and earth. Through the dialogue created by collaborative installation, a physical call and response takes place, offering a nod to an ancient language. This vernacular of the natural world can be seen in the shadows from Eastern Tennessee’s redbuds, witch-hazel, white ash, dogwoods and sugar maples, and felt in the iron rich Appalachian soil. By carefully disintegrating and repurposing technology, clay, paper, drawing, painting and natural fibers, questions are posed about responsibility and mending relationships.

Investigating what is torn, broken and dead, and then feverishly reshaping these materials is their alchemical method for transfiguration and a way to gather all of time together.

These natural objects are manifestations of a believed and beloved reality exploring the fascia between relationships and time. Their visual praxis is a way to comprehend what is remembered, forgotten and misremembered. Transformative light and shapes in space connect moments and individuals through their storytelling while simultaneously evoking a sentiment of urgency that cannot be ignored.

Emily McCall Roca Rice is an artist whose work engages with fragmentation, post-apocalyptic realities, and sustainable resurrection through material handling and direct observation. Born in Birmingham, AL in 1993, they received their BFA in Spanish and Art from Birmingham-Southern College (2016). They are currently a Painting and Drawing MFA candidate at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.