Murmurs of awe bounce off the gallery’s walls in response to the talents of advanced printmaking students. As whispers reverberate, the sentiments of the artists echo throughout the gallery, coloring the space with a contagious appreciation for student artists.
On Nov. 4, advanced printmaking students unveiled “(and it) Echoes Throughout the Room: Advanced Printmaking Exhibition” at the ICOSA Collective Gallery. The one-day pop-up exhibition, co-curated by 13 students, showcased the intricacies of various printmaking methods and the collaborative nature of the class.
Art education senior Janelle Mendoza said the off-campus exhibit differed from on-campus exhibitions of student art due to the logistics, from arranging pieces to creating promotional material, such as posters and pamphlets.
“When (your work) is up in the halls of the art building, that’s the inevitability,” Mendoza said. “With a gallery, we had a checklist of things that we had to get done.”
Though the experience required a high level of commitment from the students, studio art senior Carrington Tuner said artistic collaboration persisted.
“There was a mutual understanding of each other,” Turner said. “We understood how exhausting it is, but at the same time, how exciting it is to make these art pieces for the gallery.”
This connection appeared in various aspects of the event, namely in the title of the showcase. Mendoza said due to its emphasis on repetition, the theme of echoes tied the pieces of the gallery together.
“With print as a medium, making multiples is the core of what printmaking is,” Mendoza said. “We all had things that we wanted to reflect upon … so the question that we were answering was, ‘What is your echo?’”
Studio art senior Youjin Choi said her echo of love manifested in the collection of books she created to include in the exhibit.
“Through my pieces, I work with vulnerability and different types of love,” Choi said. “I wanted my goal to be to put out all the love I have to give out into the world.”
Upon seeing the gallery, Choi said she felt overcome with emotion over the reaction her books received.
“Seeing people actually flip through my books and taking the time to look at each page was emotional,” Choi said. “This is the best way I can put into the world what I want to say.”
Turner’s pieces centered around her experience at a Brent Faiyaz concert. Her woodblock print and screen print focused on her senses of sight and sound during the concert, respectively.
“I was thinking of my experience being one echo and everyone else at the concert also having these echoes coming together to be these merging experiences,” Turner said.
As students shared their echoes and collaborated on curation, they created a space where appreciation for undergraduate art flourished.
“We should all be personally satisfied with our work,” Mendoza said. “But being able to have acknowledgment from those we care about and those who care about us is very important.”
