Riley Church (Sitting on Mulch Pile at Pease Park), Collaborative Portrait
Riley wearing yellow overalls sitting on a dark brown tarp on a sunny day in the park. They have white shoes, hold the cable release, and are looking directly at the audience.
Riley Church
Riley Church is a twenty-year-old UT Austin student, majoring in Radio/Television/Film and Plan II Honors who has enjoyed spending the last few years experimenting with film photography. Riley has spent the past fifteen years in Austin and hopes to spend many more here playing dominoes, making movies, sewing clothes, and creating art.
Portfolio: https://rileychurch.myportfolio.com/
Instagram: @artofchurch
Dear Diary, / Bumps and Bruises
Project statement: Realizing that one’s energy is not infinite has been the hardest lesson I’ve ever had to learn. Budgeting energy to be successful academically, socially, and artistically, while also maintaining my mental and physical health has only been intensified by my inability to adequately recharge after a good night’s rest.
My heart’s weaker than most, so I paired images of my normal young adult life layered with images from my perspective on the floor when I’ve passed out. The ceiling series is an attempt to represent the cause and effect of trying to achieve normalcy as a college student, as a teenager, as a friend, as a sibling, as a roommate, as a supporter, as a child, as an employee, as a person, and as an artist.
I am learning how to evolve with my body instead of against it. I am learning how to make room for myself and advocate for myself while also enjoying being myself. This project is a direct reflection of who I was from January to April 2022 –– it captures a turning point in my life where I have begun to realize that the body I’m in and the person I am are mine, and are here to stay.
My goal with these pieces was to contrast moments in a way that shows the spectrum of experiences and their impacts on my person. I want to celebrate and highlight the good, the bad, and the mundane. My first love was doodling, and so my superimposed drawings are an ode to my core self, my childhood, and my beginnings.
Dear Diary,
The cover of a cyan notebook is pictured, adorned with stickers. A photograph of Riley laying in their bedroom takes up the top half of the cover, then an aerial shot of Vienna Sausages in a can, with an orange and gray sticker, a medical information sticker, and a black cat jumping sticker. In the bottom right-hand corner, the words “ Dear Diary, by Riley Church” are written in yellow pen.
bumps and bruises
Riley sits centered in the splits of several tree trunks, wearing a white and black striped top and green shorts. Beyond the trees, there is a river with the light reflecting off the water. A yellow outline drawing of Riley appears mirrored from the real-life Riley, and the words “bumps and bruises” are written in yellow next to Riley’s legs, highlighting the many bruises there. Photo was taken by Cooper Slack and Caileigh Dowell.
picking through
In the background photo, an empty classroom full of identical red chairs lined up, ready for class. class. A cut out of Riley in a white hoodie with watermelon shorts is superimposed, taking up most of the left side of the photo. Riley is bending over to dig through a drawer under a table filled to the brim with art supplies, including sewing materials, yarn, cameras, etc. Photo was taken by Samuel Church.
sitting party
It’s Riley’s 20th birthday, and everyone gathers around the center table, everyone and everything is decked out in pink and red for a Valentines’ day theme. Riley lays across the laps of several friends, smiling hugely. Photo was taken by Grace Dodson. The friends are outlined in a yellow line, and the background has been replaced with a different photo. Riley sits largely in the frame, slightly off-centered to the right, exhaustedly staring at a computer screen. Riley is out of focus, but in the background, a pink birthday crown, the same one Riley is wearing in the party scene, is haphazardly balancing on a lamp on the left. A forearm crutch of the same pink color is in focus in the background right.
ceiling 5
A selfie of Riley, Allie, and Precious-Faith at a sporting event, smiles wide. A low opacity image of a ceiling is layered directly on top of the image. The ceiling has an ornate glass and wooden fan placed between two support beams.
loop
Riley stands centered, in motion, hula hooping, outlined in yellow sketchy lines. Behind Riley multiple repeating images fade out, creating movement in a still image. There’s a crowd behind Riley, made up of mostly kids and parents also hula hooping. It’s a gorgeous day outside, with bright blue skies. Laughter is prominent. Photo was taken by DeDe Church.
thread
Two images are vertically joined together. The top image is upside down, depicting a white and gray sky and buildings with a bridge centered in the photo. There’s graffiti in green and white that reads “PLEASE BREATHE”. The bottom image centers around a couple, laying on a picnic blanket in the distance. They are framed with the greenery around them, as skyscrapers rise in the background. The photos are joined by digitally drawn stitches, and a needle occupies the top right area while a spool of thread is found in the bottom left.
ceiling 4
At a protest for transgender rights at the Texas State Capitol, a protestor holds a sign that reads GREG IS A CUNT, with the dome of the Capitol visible in the background. A low opacity image of a ceiling is layered directly on top of the image. The ceiling is from the perspective of the ground at Riley’s closet. Riley’s clothes are multi-colored and loud, arranged on a rack inside the closet, which is framed by white walls.
schema
Five photos taken by Adelae Tumbusch. The photo in the top left corner depicts two legs in a white bathtub. They are heavily bruised with yellow lines circling the marks. The bottom left photo is of the same legs with the same bruises and yellow lines, as the legs walk up outdoor concrete stairs. The center bottom photo shows the same legs with the same yellow lines and bruises at one of the metal landings of the staircase, posed in the corner against the iron railing. The bottom right image is a close-up of one of the backs of one of the legs’ knees, with a circled deep dark bruise. The top right image and the largest image are of Riley descending the staircase, both hands on the railing, bruises still circled.
ripple
Photo by Cooper Slack. Caileigh and Riley join hands as they run in a circle and spin each other around as fast as possible. They’re in the center of the man-made replication of Stonehenge, Stonehenge II, a public art piece off the highway in Ingram, Texas. The world behind Caileigh and Riley is blurred with motion, while yellow sketchy lines outline the pair and repeat until they fade out completely.
ceiling 6
Caileigh, Riley, and Allie laugh while freezing at a late-night outdoor concert. Riley holds a hot chocolate to-go cup and a white disposable face mask. Photo was taken by Grace Dodson. A low opacity image of a ceiling is layered directly on top of the image. This ceiling is from the perspective of the bathroom floor. The showerhead and shower curtain rod occupy the right-hand side of the image, while the white tile with brown accents covers the walls.
cycle
Two images are joined by a hand-drawn cycle of arrows creating an oval. On the left side, a person eats at a restaurant alongside their dog, who is propped up in a tricked-out doggie stroller. No one at the surrounding tables is questioning this decision. On the right, Bella, a wheelchair user, rolls down a sidewalk surrounded by white construction scaffolding that creates a tunnel effect. Bella is accompanied by their service dog, Aly, a boxer, in her vest and protective booties.
swimming in
Riley lies in their bed on their back, legs crunched in the air. Riley is scrolling through the phone. The bed is blue and covered in pillows and bright blankets. Nilla Wafers, a fat white cat, grooms himself next to Riley in the bed. Poppy, a white and dark gray cat lays next to them, looking directly into the camera with yellow eyes. Photo by Grace Dodson. The scene is outlined in yellow, but the background has been replaced with a photo at Barton Springs: the crowd watches as some brave soul jumps off the diving board. It’s a beautiful day, the green grass is covered with people.
ceiling 3
Cara, Bea, Jasmine, Taylor, and Isabel stand and gather around Riley on their birthday. Everyone sillily poses for the camera, while Riley sits, surrounded by love. Photo by Grace Dodson. A low opacity image of a ceiling is layered directly on top of the image. The ceiling has a wood and glass light fixture attached to a fan, and posters and photos adorn the wall.
reverb
On the left, a photo of Riley’s head balanced on Best Cooper’s shoulder. Best Cooper’s face is spliced in half by the cropping, and a yellow outline of Riley’s face is superimposed on Riley’s shoulder. Photo by Caileigh Dowell. To the right, a different image is attached. Through the bathroom door, but with a pink laundry bag hanging on a doorknob in focus and the rest out of focus. A figure stands at the sink, hunched over, doing something out of frame. They’re recently showered. The figure wears a digitally drawn-on dress.
sign
Photo by riel sturchio. Riley stands in a wooded area in a butter yellow jumpsuit. This is a long-exposure image that captures the blurred movement as Riley signs in American Sign Language, “My name is Riley.” Yellow words overlay the blurs where each word is signed, reading “My name is Riley.”
four legs
Three horizontal images of chairs are stacked vertically on top of each other. The top photo is of gold chairs placed in the sun as they’ve just been painted and are drying. The chairs are behind a dark black metal fence. The middle photo is of a classroom and focuses on rows of red chairs with attached beige plastic desks. The light reflects off the shiny plastic. The bottom and final photo are of rows of green chairs in the audience of a tennis stadium. They are connected and separated from the court by a silver fence. All the chairs pictured are empty. A yellow sketch of two overlapping pieces of tape joins the top and middle photo together on the right-left side, while a sketch of a piece of gauze folded and stuck with a bandaid connects the middle and bottom photo on the right.
pruning
Riley sits on the floor surrounded by papers and art supplies, working with scissors. Photo by Adelae Tumbusch. This photo is cut out and placed in the background of an abandoned greenhouse full of dead and dying plants. Yellow digital flowers have grown up around Riley, who takes scissors to them.
chronic
Riley and Alexa pose together, smiling, in the crowd of a tennis game. Photo by Precious–Faith Villareal. An IV pole cut out of a different photo appears behind Riley, alongside a monitor screen also cut out from another photo. The screen reads “BATTERY LOW” in yellow, wavy letters, and lines emit from the letter’s outlines. Everyone and everything has a yellow outline on the right side of the image.
ceiling 1
It’s Riley’s twentieth birthday. Riley is wearing a pink dress with a sweetheart neckline and a pink birthday crown. Next to Riley is a round table adorned with pink flower table cloth, pink flowers, and candy hearts. Photo was taken by Grace Dodson. A low opacity image of a ceiling is layered directly on top of the image. This ceiling is seen from the perspective of the corner of the kitchen, sandwiched between the cabinet counters. A fluorescent light fixture is in focus.
man-made
Two photos are once again vertically put together, attached by yellow digitally drawn on string stitching. The top photo depicts a white and gray cityscape of a road, along with white and black graffiti covering the walls. The bottom photo is Riley’s profile, at Stonehenge II, a replica in Ingram, TX. Riley is framed by the center formation of rocks. In the background, yellow drawn power-lines crisscross the horizon.
ceiling 2
Riley and Sweet Allie stand side by side in matching butter-yellow outfits, posing in front of the Texan Union with their paint buckets. This was an accidental match but a step towards the strong bond between them that would follow. A low opacity image of a ceiling is layered directly on top of the image. The image is of the view from the floor of Riley’s kitchen, featuring Riley’s knees in the proper position to help someone who has fainted. The fridge, covered in magnets and notes, takes up most of the right side of the image.
build
An unfinished building on campus has scaffolding climbing up one corner. Shadows and weird light patterns are dancing across the front of the building, while the sky’s clouds swirl. The cut out of Caileigh and Riley’s heads laying on top of each other is outlined in yellow and placed in the bottom right corner. Photo by Grace Dodson.
dual
A classroom, from the view of a student seat instead of the presenter. The chairs are plastic red and have attached beige desks. The blinds are slightly open to allow stripes of light to imprint on the desks. A yellow drawing of a sketchy human sits on one of the chairs, their backpack hanging over the side of the chair. A second image is attached to the right side of this first image, which is a peek through the bathroom door. A figure sits on the bathroom counter, curled up, its body reflected in the fogged-up mirror. The figures are seated, facing each other.