JACY RICHARDSON
Jacy (JC) is an artist within the Appalachian Mountains of East Tennessee. Her practice lives between the physical and digital, and incorporates the textures of her mountain upbringing while engaging with emerging technologies. Through mediums such as projection, sculpture, archival imagery, and digital environments, she builds spatial and speculative narratives.
Central to her practice is a research-based framework she is building called Appalachian Sci-Fi. This ever-evolving concept reframes Appalachian identity through speculative storytelling, digital materiality, and lived-in experience.
In addition to her personal practice, Jacy is a 3D & VFX artist with Cortina Productions, a media design studio near Washington, D.C., where she helps create immersive experiences for museums. She is also an Assistant Professor of Digital Media at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee, teaching in both the undergraduate and MFA program.
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A hash of organic and synthetic.
Past hauntings, sanded down by the mountain grit.
Archives collapsing into a futuristic holler.
Appalachia, refracted.
I find elements of my mountain upbringing as I work across physical and digital mediums. After receiving a disintegrating folder containing half my family’s archive, I began exploring themes of secrets, folklore, shame, and the evolving identity of Appalachia. This archival exploration, fused with my background in technology, led me to see new narratives emerging from what is often overlooked in broader cultural discussions. Plagued by the constant glow of the computer screen, I turned to non-digital methods such as cyanotypes. Just as cyanotypes capture hidden details in the exposure of time, overlooked stories are illuminated when reframed. Thinking about what documents and photos were valued enough to make it into the remnants of my family’s folder, I’m interested in how archives play a part in “rediscovery” versus a “new discovery” and how they serve as a social and political force. My current research centers on Appalachian Sci-Fi, which reimagines regional rural histories and emerging technologies. In defining the parameters of Sci-Fi Appalachia for art making, I seek to challenge the reductive stories that have historically shaped the region’s identity, emphasizing the importance of envisioning alternative, fantastical worlds. How do we pull from the archives to frame a new future?
Canning, farming, quilting, and tobacco spit
Mending my Appalachian coat
Reprogramming
