The Sheehan Gallery’s first installment for the spring semester, The New and Returning Whitman Studio Art and Art History/Visual Culture Studio (AH/VCS) Faculty Exhibition, opened January 18–giving students the unique opportunity to observe their professors’ work outside of the classroom.

“With a lot of other [exhibits] you don’t know the artists personally,” said senior art history major Ian Gill. “With professors, you see them every day [but] when you’re taking a class from one, you don’t really see the professor’s interests artistically. With this, you get to see it.”

The works, which feature sculpture, multimedia and “time-based art,” allow the faculty artists to experiment on home turf. Assistant Professor of Art (Sculpture) Michelle Acuff, whose eye-catching sculpture features two blue deer with entwined antlers, spoke of the unique opportunity for herself and gallery-goers while attending the opening.

“I think the event is a unique opportunity to see work that’s otherwise showing in other places around the country,” said Acuff. “For me, I was able to build a large piece and not deal with the hassle of shipping it somewhere else. I got to focus on the process, to take risks materially and to focus on the installation itself.”

Acuff returned this spring from sabbatical, so the event features the work she has done over the course of her fall semester travels.

For Assistant Professor of Art (New Media) Justin Lincoln, whose piece “Random Access Memory” featured video, text and still images, the space of the Sheehan Gallery served to further experiment with distorted sensory illustrations and to play with other forms of art as well.

“One thing about this particular show is that it marks a transition [in my work],” said Lincoln. “While I’ve worked with video for about a decade, I recently became interested in . . . a programming language called processing [which] enabled the making of portraits. This show is the first where I’ve had a number of prints exhibited.”

In addition to the works of contemporary Asian American artists Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik, Kat Larson and Gina Osterloh, the exhibit also features an installment by Art History/Visual Culture Studies Professor Jan Bernabe

Gill, who helped set up the installation, commented upon how the distinction between “Asian art” and “Asian American” art should not be overlooked.

“I think it’s very important–the issue of Asian American art,” said Gill. “It’s expected that if someone is ‘Asian’ in the United States, it must mean that they are culturally Asian instead of an American. But Asian-American connotes a specific experience.”

Bernabe’s collection, titled “Techniques”, includes stimulating interactive works such as an around-the-world curry exhibit.

The intimacy of the event also gave several students the opportunity to work closely with the artists.

“The extent of involvement with pieces is usually minimal, putting up walls and stuff,” said Gill. “But we were actively taking part in making the art. I worked with Sita [Kuratomi Bhaumik]’s piece and put up the work map, stickers and painted parts of it. Sita said at one point it was as much of our work as hers.”

The extent of student involvement gives viewers an additional dimension of interest to the event. Lincoln also advises viewers to take their time and even repeat their visits to the gallery.

“The works in this show reward multiple viewings,” said Lincoln. “How you see something is affected by day-to-day circumstances. If a single image is complex enough, you’re going to start focusing on different things as you spend more time with it.”