Alumni Mia Rollins talks process, permission, and the spring board that Ox-Bow provided for their work.
Mia Rollins is an artist whose work utilizes video installation sculptures to experiment with optical illusion, investigate scientific hypotheses, and journey into the mystical. While Rollins’s work takes big bites, it never seems to be more than they can chew, even when they go, in their words, “knocking on the door of a nuclear reactor.”
Early in undergrad at Brown, Rollins considered studying physics or environmental science, but it was ultimately the arts department that lured them. It was in the studio that they felt compelled to explore scientific principles and theories that had almost tempted them into a career of lab coats.
Prodigal (I-440W), May 2021, video projected on salt and cake installation, 1 x 7 x 7 ft. (as installed, dimensions variable), 3 min 45 sec (loop).
While Rollins incorporates and utilizes various aspects of their past in their work – their pursuit of becoming a professional figure skater, their father’s obsession with camcorders, their affection for physics – they still rank their first summer at Ox-Bow as one of the most significant pivot points in their career.
“My first time I went was really a huge shifting point in my practice… the Visiting Artist while I was there was Dario Robleto.” Rollins had been an admirer of Robleto’s work since age 15 when they listened to his feature on Radio Lab. “It was the first work to make me cry just conceptually,” they shared. During Robleto’s first visit to Rollins studio at Ox-Bow, the admiration was returned. Rollins still sounds giddy when they describe that initial interaction.
“It was one of those weird things... He watched one of my pieces and he was like ‘That was the best work I’ve seen in years.’” From then on, Robleto and Rollins became fast friends, while Robleto also served as a mentor to Rollins. He gave them one particularly impactful piece of advice: to knock on doors. He confided with Rollins that after 30 years, no scientist had ever knocked on his door, and that many scientists he’d called had said no, but a few said yes, a few had opened their doors.
Headshot of Mia Rollins. Image courtesy of the Artist.
Liberated by Robleto’s advice, Rollins started taking initiative. “That motivation changed everything for me. I went back to Providence and I just started doing that… talking to researchers at Brown University who were studying the brain and dementia.” That initiative propelled them forward. “The nuclear reactor residency came out of knocking on a door of a nuclear reactor,” which further down the road led to a NASA Grant. According to Rollins, “It was totally all due to meeting [Robleto] at Ox-Bow.” While not every situation ends in NASA Grants, Rollins time at Ox-Bow encapsulates much of what residencies strive to provide: a time to build community with other artists, to take risks in one’s practice, and to leave not just refreshed but emboldened.
If you have news or stories you’d like to share about your time at Ox-Bow or beyond, you can contact Engagement Liaison & Storyteller, Shanley Poole, at spoole@ox-bow.org.
Header Image: Sominum (Transmission I), June 2022, video projection on sprayed haze clouds and parametric, arcylic dishes, 12 x 10 x 10 ft. (as installed- dimensions variable), 7 min 15 sec (loop).