“A person’s identity is formed not just through their roots but also through the journeys they undertake away from them.” –Julia Kristeva
Bea Hurd’s Root, Rot, Roast is a visceral exploration of change, transition, and liminal spaces. The installation, made primarily from craft-based materials, is seen as a self-portrait. Illustrated as a stylized and somewhat grotesque figure, the exhibition is separated into three parts: an early version of the self, the current self, and the internal self. As a queer person raised in Utah, Hurd reflects on her internal process of detaching from complex roots that anchor and are familiar to her paired with a deep desire for separation, transition, and transformation.
“I feel focused on the limbo I exist in right now—knowing that leaving Utah is so close but still existing in my current reality,” says Hurd as she stands at a crossroads. “I have ravenous desire to learn and grow.”
Despite a deep desire to leave, all change comes with loss. While looking forward, her work also explores what’s being left behind. Connecting Hurd to Utah are her students—many queer themselves—who she mentors and provides a safe psychological place for through her classroom. She says, “I am throwing myself into a position where I am helping vulnerable young people grow, and I feel so rooted [to their] youthful curiosity.”
