becky alley
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​My creative practice has long been materials and process focused, engaging craft theories and methods. Like many artists, my work changed dramatically when the pandemic forced me to stay home with my two young children for, what seemed then, a never-ending stretch of time. Not only was the pandemic itself causing alarm and stress, but it was bringing to light long-festering systemic issues like racial injustice, economic disparity, political instability, and numerous imminent threats of climate change. 
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Hope Chest is an ongoing series named in reference to the southern American tradition of preparing a young girl for her future as a wife and mother. As a mother of young children myself, the urge to prepare them for an uncertain future resonates with me, though thinking in terms of conventional gender roles and norms is not my concern. Rather, I combine typical hope chest contents - like quilts, weavings, bed linens, books, and cedar - with materials and objects of crisis and survival - like tarps, emergency blankets, paracord, sandbags, and utility tape. Ultimately, the work simultaneously speaks to my fears and worries about the world my children will someday inherit, speculating on impending disaster and the inevitability of loss, while also exhibiting qualities like flexibility, adaptability, resilience, and play that I hope will help them navigate the world to come.

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Shelter​, tarps, emergency blankets, utility tape, paracord, bed linens, sandbag, pulley, 2022

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Installation view from two-person show Release at George Caleb Bingham Gallery, University of Missouri, 2021

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Quilts​, tarps, emergency blankets, bed sheets, paracord, sand, 2021

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Heirlooms​, felted objects, woven emergency blankets, paracord, cedar saw horses, 2021

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Installation view from two-person show Release at George Caleb Bingham Gallery, University of Missouri, 2021. Video installation by Katina Bitsicas in the far left.

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Safety Net, utility twine, heat resistant tape, plasti-dip, bed sheets, sand, 2021

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White Flags, bed sheets, cedar, plasti-dip, ​2021

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top left and clockwise: Sylvia's Bow, Blossoms of Hope, Guiding Star, You are Here, utility tape on paper, 2020