PEMBROKE, N.C., April 22 -- The University of North Carolina at Pembroke issued the following news release:
Flashes of fish cut through imagined water, weaving between bright coral forms that
feel almost alive. But look closer - tucked within the textured, reaching branches
of coral is a miniature Coke can, a quiet disruption that mirrors a much larger reality.
For Mia Baca, a studio art major at UNC Pembroke, that contrast is intentional.
Expected to graduate in 2026, Baca creates work that draws viewers in with beauty,
then challenges them to confront the realities beneath the surface - particularly
the effects of pollution and climate change on coral reef ecosystems.
That intention shapes every detail of the piece.
"I wanted to add ...