Meet Vita Rice | Artist and Poet

We had the good fortune of connecting with Vita Rice and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Vita, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
For the most part, I was raised in the rolling green hills of upstate New York to two down-to-earth, nature and music loving parents. From an early age my inherent creativity expressed itself, and I’m grateful that my parents were able to provide a space that was safe, encouraging, and supportive for my artistic interests to blossom. Good music was always playing, movement/dance were positively affirmed, and my parents did what they could to buy me art supplies and books to keep me engaged.

Growing up in a northeastern small town dynamic provided an uncanny amount of “nothing to do.” My parents discouraged excessive TV time and were not huge advocates of video games unless they were educational, so I spent a lot of my childhood playing outside in the forests and creeks near my neighborhood, reading, drawing, writing, and playing computer games that stimulated my creative interests and taught me math *rolls eyes.*

Nature and sustainability have always been a part of my life. From the hiking and camping trips my family would take, to actively participating in our composting system in our back yard, I learned from an early age how to respectfully commune with nature. This is something that I am deeply grateful for, as I understand so many people do not grow up with circumstances that introduce them to or connect them deeply with Mother Earth.

The human I am today reflects and resounds the above. Being encouraged to access my own supply of imaginative entertainment, and being primarily fed substance rather than empty entertainment in digital spaces has shaped the way I move in the world today.

I spend most of my time creating or dreaming of creating, and I would much prefer to grab my tent and head to the desert, sit down and have a good conversation, or go dance to some well-made music than head out shopping or stay at home watching TV or videos online.

My creative process is non-judgmental and flows easily, and I impart this to the profoundly supportive role my family and friends have played throughout my life as I have developed in my artistic expression.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Oh man, the “tell us about your work” question – I make art that you can stare at for hours, revisiting it over and over again like a good book, taking away something new each time. That’s my elevator pitch. You like?

Most things I paint fall along a quadrant range between Color Field, Abstract Landscape, Abstract Expressionism, and Impressionism. I think? That’s how I try to qualify it, at least. My work is highly detailed, typically highly abstracted, colorful yet subdued, and I like to think that it is entrancing for many people who get to see it.

One of the most frequent comments I get from viewers is “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.” Which is a really cool thing to hear from someone about my art, and I hear it a lot. However, this makes it tricky to describe to anyone who hasn’t seen it, especially in person.

Anecdotally, I believe that the visual sense is an extremely grounding one (for myself, and others like me, at least). It can be meditative to take the time to really look at something that is highly detailed – like a leaf, for example – with all of its different visible veins and spots and variations in shade. I desire to create art that is meditative to look at by the sheer attention it requires to fully take in what is happening on the canvas.

I am extremely proud of the work I create, and the level of time, attention, presence, and precision it takes to do what I do.

At the beginning of 2022 I quit my nice cushy salaried office job to see what would happen if I went all in on my craft, and it has been a wildly educational and exhilarating process. Scary at times, celebratory in many others. Banal and thrilling and dragging and flashing by at lightning speed all describe the process of living as a full-time painter. Duality, eh?
It has not been easy and I do not anticipate that it ever will be ‘easy’ by most people’s standard of what ‘easy’ is. I would also not classify it as ‘hard.’ Moreso, it has been a challenge of re-structuring, consistently re-evaluating, and putting in an absolutely insane amount of studio time. Some nights I am up until 6am feverishly painting, some days I paint for 15 hours straight without stepping outside, and some weeks I hardly do anything at all other than bask in the sun because I’m burnt out and my creativity needs a break.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
You’re asking the right gal but it depends on the friend, what season it is, what’s going on in town – one shoe does not fit all! Or whatever that phrase is.

Some people go to the same places and do the same things and that’s mostly just not me.

In the summer and autumn I take my visitors up into the Unitas near Mirror Lake to enjoy the incredible mountain atmosphere. We will stop on a pull off and hike down to spend the day bathing in a river, have a snack we brought, etc.
In the late autumn and spring (and summer and winter too, who’s kidding) I bring my visitors down to the desert. I love Green River, the San Rafael Swell, and all of the surrounding areas around Leeds/Hurricane. We will rock scramble or boulder, find a wonderful quiet and secluded spot to camp in the public lands, and have a time.

If it’s the weekend, there are usually all sorts of great shows happening at the many quality, established and underground venues in SLC. Some of which are Soundwell, Complex, The Block, Garage on Beck, Urban Lounge, Trellis/Sky, The State Room, Metro Music Hall, The Pines, Black Rabbit, The Depot, and the Union.

I don’t go out drinking much at all but I do enjoy a cocktail here and there at Alibi or Bar X downtown.

I also cook most of my meals, but I am partial to Pleiku for Vietnamese food, Yoko for ramen, Sapa for sushi, and there’s a taco cart over on 900s and State next to the Ocean City Seafood Market that slings the best dang burrito in town.
Don’t say I didn’t tell you. These people know what they’re doing.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My family and friends are my greatest supporters – throughout my life I have always been encouraged to pursue my craft. Seriously, shout out to all of my friends who love my work and have paid me to make them something special. It means the world to me. Every single person who has collected a piece of work over the years has helped me get to the point I’m at now, working full time as an artist in this wild world.

I’d also like to take a moment to tell the story of my “return to painting.” In the middle years of college, I had mostly lost contact with making art. It wasn’t something I prioritized or felt was a viable future for myself, and my will to create had dropped off completely. I was getting a degree to be a research scientist, hopefully studying seagrass. “No time for art, when you’re a science gal,” I thought. In 2016 I lived with a guy named Ed, and for Christmas that year Ed got me a set of chalk pastels. I had been doodling with pens for several months, making all sorts of mandalas and such, and Ed caught the drift and gave me a gift that changed my life. I started shaving down the pastels with a palette knife and adding water to make paint, and I would set up in our cramped living room with white printer paper strewn all over the floor. This was a fundamental cornerstone and turning point for me, where I realized for the first time that maybe, just maybe, this was the thing that truly lit my fire after all. The rest is history, it’s been ongoing from there.
We haven’t connected in years, I should probably shoot him a text and let him know the impact that gift made.

Website: https://vitarising.com

Instagram: @Vitarising @vita_galerie

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vita-rice/

Image Credits
Photo of me at night wearing long coat while live painting is by Jesse Hudson @jessehudson_ on instagram Photo of me sitting in front of canvas wearing pink surrounded by plants is by Pablo @trippy710 @trippyworld101 on instagram