We're excited to welcome Timothy Darden, also known as @blackostume, to The Emergence Room.

Timothy is a filmmaker and musician currently completing his BFA in Film, and during his time as a Fellow Traveler at the American Academy in Rome, he's been immersed in cinema, sound, and study — watching Italian films, listening deeply, and learning how culture, language, and rhythm shape storytelling.

In this episode, we talk about what it means to be an undergraduate artist finding your voice, how music and filmmaking inform one another, and how studying film in Rome has opened new ways of thinking about identity, translation, and authorship.

We explore an emergence arc from mask to mirror — from experimenting with alter egos and creative protection to using art as a way of seeing yourself more clearly. Timothy reflects on what he's becoming, what he's unlearning, and how this moment in his education is shaping the artist he's growing into.

This conversation is thoughtful, grounded, and full of curiosity — a beautiful look at creative becoming in real time.