Published Monday, February 13th, 2017
The Nordstrand Visual Arts Gallery's new space will feature its first artist, Susan Knight, beginning Feb. 16.
Wayne State College will unveil a new exhibit space in Conn Library on Feb. 16 featuring visiting artist Susan Knight's "Water Inlays and Overlays," which will run from Feb. 16 through March 15. An opening reception in the Nordstrand Visual Arts Gallery will be held from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. An artist’s talk by Knight will precede the reception, from 3:45 to 4:15 p.m. in Gardner Auditorium. Both events are free and open to the public.
A Nebraska-based painter and paper and installation artist, Knight is a native of Michigan. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and featured in Sci Art in America Online Magazine and the book "Art Inspired by Science: Imagining The Natural Work" by Robert Louis Chianese.
Knight participated in the 2014 Symposium “Drought” hosted by the Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She is a recipient of a Nebraska Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship. In 2013, the Colorado Art Ranch and The Nature Conservancy selected her for an award for a “Land/Water” residency at Carpenter Ranch in Hayden, Colo. She was also awarded for artist residencies at Ragdale, Lake Forest, Ill., in 1997 and 2009 and at the International School of Art, Montecastello di Vibio, Italy, in 1999. Knight earned a BFA in art from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind., and attended The University of Notre Dame, The Glassell School of Art, Houston, and The School of the Chicago Art Institute.
Knight employs a methodical way of hand cutting paper used by Victorians. Water Inlays and Overlays is comprised of hand-cut Tyvek on paper. The porous paper expands, capturing aspects of groundwater and the physics of water action. Her intention is to prod viewers to discover emotions about water associations and experiences and gain a greater awareness of water issues.
Dr. Andrew Haslit is a new faculty member and director of the Nordstrand Visual Arts Gallery. He was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, and received his Ph.D. in 19th century American art history from Indiana University in 2015. He has taught at the University of Texas at Tyler and at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, and worked in the curatorial department of the Cincinnati Art Museum before moving to Wayne State College. Haslit's research interests include the creation of identity in 19th century American visual culture, and particularly the use of gambling as a metaphor in that discourse. He will serve as an assistant professor of art history.
“I’m excited for this opportunity - a lot of people have worked a long time to make the state-of-the-art gallery space a reality,’’ Haslit said. “I’m looking forward to the Nordstrand Visual Arts Gallery being a hub for visual arts in the region, and I think Susan Knight is going to put on a great show (the first within the new space) to inaugurate the new space.”
Knight's show is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Shows end at noon on the closing day.
For more information on this exhibition and upcoming shows or to learn more about the Nordstrand Visual Arts Gallery, visit www.wsc.edu/art-gallery or contact gallery director Dr. Andy Haslit, Assistant Professor of Art History, at 402-375-7031.