ʀᴀɪɴ ᴇᴍʙᴜꜱᴄᴀᴅᴏ

🎓 Hard to distill four years of grad school into a twenty-slide carousel; even harder to believe I reached the finish line despite losing the most important person in my life. All the same I’m proud of myself for pulling through, and I think these images (set in chronological order, from left!) do a decent job of telling that story. (2022–2026)

More forms from my work on the “trophic transfer” series. These are technically in-progress shots since the finished versions have bronze and copper luster surface overglazes on the pearlescent protrusions. Too lazy to document them as they are now so I’ll post those later as an update 😅 2025, stoneware ceramic with titanium terra sigillata, umber oxide wash, nuka and oxblood high-fire glaze, and bronze and copper luster (not shown in images) #trophictransfer #ceramic #sculpture

✨Blessed to have earned my MFA alongside these kind, ambitious, and gorgeously gifted people. From Nigeria and Iran to Brasil and virtually every corner of the contiguous United States, the seven of us really rocked out here in the American heartland. Overflowing with gratitude and love. 💞 Credit goes to Igor Arume (@igorarume ) for proposing this class portrait; Hanieh Darvishian (@hanieh__darvishian ) for imparting each of us with a touch of Polaroid magic; Summer Hall (@summerhallpottery ) for choreographing us in space; Chandler Lemmon (@chandlerlemmon ) for orchestrating us in the light; Adekunle Ogunleke (@dekunle_arts ) for keeping us on track; and the wonderful Emily Smith (@epsfibers ) for being the heart of our graduating class. 📸: Graci Calovich (@gracicalovich18 )

⭐️ My long-awaited promotional post spotlighting Sydney Lee (@itz._syd._ ) whose work, “Introspection” (2024), is pictured in the carousel. The mixed-media piece, designed to be a deconstructed artist’s book, was selected for this year’s juried Visual Arts and Design Showcase (VADS) competition co-hosted by Mizzou in Columbia, Missouri. That this work happened to be born in one of my 2D Materials & Methods sections meant I was the lucky bug the artist named as her mentor. 🥰 VADS specifies a “People’s Choice” award that you, dear follower, can cast your vote towards. So, if you can spare a minute of your time, please head over to the link in my bio (where I strongly encourage you to vote for “Introspection”). Big love to all of the artists recognized by the event, with special mentions to Nicole Crocker, Amani Poindexter, Jay Graham, Graci Calovich, and Remington White (who I also had/have the honor of serving in semesters past and present). All images by Sydney Lee and posted with permission

Course: Drawing: Materials & Methods Instructor: Rain Embuscado Assignment: Observational Volumetric Study Medium: Charcoal on Paper For their first assignment in this foundational course, students were prompted to develop observational volumetric drawings of a still life with vine and compressed charcoal on 18” x 24” paper. Each of the methods covered in class were used in the production of these compositions, some of which included sighting and measuring, perspective/construction line drawing, contour line drawing, and various value distribution techniques (e.g. blending, cross-hatching, reductive mark-making, etc.). The accompanying carousel, which imposes a twenty-slide limit, represents an abbreviated selection of views from the Fine Arts Building’s temporary display. These images are posted with the generous permission of the artists: (Section 2) Randi Bax, Ian Benne, Easton Cooper, Emmy Dehn, Bobbie Hafford, Emma Hickman, Charlie James, Haylee Josoff, Maca Lobaglio, Sophia Pecher, Kayley Rogers, Zora Shoemaker, Andrew Smith, Natalie Sommerhauser, Melissa Tran, and Sophia VanHorn; (Section 1) Audrey Bast, Alaina Borgmann, Isabel Brauhn, Ruby Chaplin, June Dixon, Wesley Gale, Toby Kelly, Ivy Kotcher, Makenna Kutun, Lucy Liston, Cedar Lund-Molfese, Lily Maginn, Cooper McGruder, Devon O’Neill, Benji Shafiro, Jon Shelton, Haley Welsh-Gluck, and Remington White. @sophiapecher @sophia.vanhorn @emma.hickman30 @hjosoff21 @kalergrs @natalie_sommerhauser @melatran @bobbiejean86 benne.ian @lobaglio.maca @bsha312 @isabel.brauhn @rubychaplinn @avianivy wesizzle_23 @designs.by.t0t @makenna_kutun @hw_marie523 @hballegro @alainaborgmann @remington_white237 @jontass2018 @audrey_bast05 @cedarmolfese #mizzou #mizzoumade #mizzousvs #volumetricdrawing

“here is a possibility” is a light-based installation by kamei, Igor Arume, and Rain Embuscado in collaboration with Dr. Cristina Mislán and the Nightjar Arts Collective. Organized as a special activation for the 2026 True/False Film Fest, the title serves as both an invitation and a reminder that conceptions of place, borders, and belonging serve as sites of possibility… …real and imagined… …natural and artificial… …true and false. Visitors to Columbia, Missouri are warmly invited to see the window exhibition every night throughout the film festival’s duration (Friday, March 6–Sunday, March 8, 2026). 810 E. Walnut Street Columbia, Missouri, 65201 📸: @witwire These photographs were taken on a Canon Rebel and lightly edited/cropped using Adobe software.

“The Times,” at a glance Slides 1–5: @i_r_o_n_s_i_n_t_l Slides 6–10: @witwire

“𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕿𝖎𝖒𝖊𝖘: 𝔓𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔢𝔯𝔳𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫” February 6–15, 2026 Official photographic documentation of the second half of my thesis exhibition. The installation foregrounds contemporary global practices around symbolic preservation and the resulting impact on our actions, our connections, and our mediated imaginations around the possibilities of both. 📸: @i_r_o_n_s_i_n_t_l

Sincerely humbled by the abundance of love and energy that everyone brought to my opening reception last night. Couldn’t have done this without the support of my curator and gallery director, Dr. Cristina Mislán, as well as everyone who came out to commemorate the event. Special thanks to @salvarezonline and @the.avery.dixon for flying out to town and surprising me! Heart is full. 😎: @bia.yonce 📸: @igorarume 📱: @the.avery.dixon , @eikonktizo

✨OPENING RECEPTION✨ Friday, February 6, 2026 7:00PM CT–10:00PM CT Nightjar Arts Collective 810 E. Walnut St, CoMo 🪩

“𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕿𝖎𝖒𝖊𝖘: ℭ𝔬𝔫𝔰𝔲𝔪𝔭𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫” January 19–30, 2026 Official photographic documentation of the first half of my thesis exhibition. The installation foregrounds contemporary global practices around material consumption and the resulting impact on our environments, our bodies, and our collective (in)capacities to sustain the health of both. 📸: @i_r_o_n_s_i_n_t_l

Beyond grateful to everyone who braved the punishing weather tonight to celebrate the first half of my thesis exhibition. Special thanks to my curator and gallery director, Dr. Cristina Mislán, for producing the event. I really couldn’t have asked for a more fulfilling reception to mark my debut solo exhibition(!). Truly overwhelmed. 📸: @igorarume & @bia.yonce (last slide)