“Verbatim,” a traditional, printmaking show with a twist, will debut Wednesday, Sept. 9, at Fieldwork Projects.
Cassidy Kulhanek, senior in studio art with printmaking concentration, said she is the second student to have a show with a faculty member at Fieldwork Projects.
Kulhanek said it was “special” and a compliment she could show her art, since every student doesn’t have the same opportunity.
Tina Tatum, gallery coordinator, said the gallery is more convenient for customers than Biggin Hall, where other exhibitions are displayed.
Tatum also said other universities are using similar off campus galleries to tie the art department to the community.
“The gallery gives students a chance to bolster their skills on how to work with customers, how to help hang work and install exhibitions,” Tatum said. “They get some experience in promotion and marketing ... it’s kind of a win-win situation.”
Kulhanek talked with Paul McCormick, instructional technician for the art department, and both realized they liked each other’s work. Kulhanek said they decided to create a show together, since she hadn’t worked with a faculty member before.
McCormick creates new media art, or digital art, according to Kulhanek.
She said they both will have stand-alone pieces, but the centerpiece for the show will be a combination of both styles.
Kulhanek’s centerpiece will have her prints with McCormick’s video projected on them, like a “new meets the old type of show.”
Kulhanek said the show’s theme translates verbal, nonspoken words, into handwritten text.
“It’s kind of looking at the way that people speak when they’re writing things down even if it’s just speaking to themselves, writing to-do lists and things like that,” Kulhanek said. “So you’ll see a lot of handwriting in the shows, even if it’s illegible.”
Kulhanek said the show acts as a conversation between Kulhanek and McCormick.
She also said they started planning the show in February 2014 and have been working on it extensively this summer.
When discussing how communication acts when written, McCormick and Kulhanek thought in two separate directions.
“I started thinking about it in a more personal sense,” Kulhanek said. “I’m the kind of person that journals a lot and writes stream of consciousness type of writing a lot, so I’ll just write down the way that I’m thinking, the way that I’m feeling about things.”
Kulhanek said McCormick thought about other people writing things down instead of himself.
She said he was imagining grocery lists or class notes and how he could piece together a narrative about a person from characteristics found in their writing.
“I think that a really important part of the way that we’re thinking about handwriting and nonverbal, written communication is how that is representative of the person who made it,” Kulhanek said. “Even when you don’t see the person who’s doing the writing, you can usually tell a lot about somebody by the things that they write and how they write them.”
Kulhanek said there will be three different pieces in the show — the combination piece consisting of 40 prints, an accordion book named “I Said So,” and a wall installation with 200 different pieces.
She also said she used to be interested in photography which led her to printmaking since screenprinting and photography are similar processes.
“I was able to put more of myself into it than I could with photography,” Kulhanek said.
Allyson Comstock, department chair and professor in the department of art, said since the gallery was opened it has fulfilled its goals of presenting and selling quality work.
She said students, faculty and alumni can sell their work at Fieldwork Projects.
She also said students who intern at the gallery learn skills needed for later careers.
Fieldwork Projects is open Wednesday-Saturday from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission is free.
“Verbatim,” will end Thursday, Oct. 8 with a closing reception.
To see more of Kulhanek’s work, visit cassidyk.com
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