This is the third post in a series to introduce the participating printmakers and their collaborators for the 2016 edition of the Intersecting Methods Portfolio. Every two weeks, into mid-December, a new profile of a collaborative pair will be posted. This segment profiles David Gerhard, instructor in the Art Departments at Clemson University, Furman University, Anderson University, and the Governor’s School of Arts and Humanities, as well as the Printshop and the Greenville County Museum of Art and his collaborator, Andrew Colletti.
David Gerhard
For the past five years David Gerhard’s studio practice has incorporated experiments with printmaking technology. Gerhard has become a 3D printer by printing a relief block level by level using screenprinting. His use of computer science to augment images through alterations of source code, and through glitch apps has been output through crossed printmaking traditions, combining relief, intaglio, lithography, and screenprinting in inventive ways.
David’s intersection of print media parallels an intersection of opposing ideas. “Much of my work has to do with navigating a fragmented multicultural background in an attempt to clarify the beliefs and practices I want to teach my children.” This navigation is represented across art media through fragmented portraits and imagery referencing Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Judaism. “A complex navigation occurs within me to find meaning in existence amidst disparate traditions, cultures, and beliefs.”
For the Intersecting Methods 2016 Portfolio Exchange, Gerhard will continue to examine paradoxical ideas. This work will visualize his dialogue with Andrew Colletti, Gas Turbine Rotor Repair Engineer at GE Power & Water, on Gerhard’s plans to creating a 3D printed real rainbow using water and light. Gerhard explains, “I’ll ask him what is real, and what could be real?”
The aesthetics of the print may relate to machinery schematics to manufacture these mobile 3D printed real rainbows. The schematic may become abstract where Andrew suggests my plans are unattainable. As the print will be a result of the dialogue and process, the aesthetics are still fluid at this point.
David Gerhard earned his MFA in Visual Art (printmaking emphasis) from Clemson University and his BAs (with Distinction) in Studio Art and Communications Studies from Sonoma State University. Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Gerhard now lives in Greenville, South Carolina where he has taught in the Art Departments at Clemson University, Furman University, Anderson University, and the Governor’s School of Arts and Humanities, as well as the Printshop and the Greenville County Museum of Art. His art is in the permanent collections of universities, museums and individuals internationally. Gerhard is passionate about traditional and experimental printmaking.
Web address: davidgerhardart.com instagram.com/davidgerhard
Here are three examples of David’s work.
-
- “Family Origin” Screenprint and Relief
-
- “Hey Where r u” Lithograph and Photo-Relief
-
- “We Are Not Bodies” Algorithm Glitch Drawing
Andrew Colletti
Andrew has always been a lover of taking things apart and putting them back together. His first taste for engineering came, like so many others, from endless hours with LEGO bricks. As he got older, Andrew became involved with Science Olympiads and FIRST Robotics, where he learned the patience required for testing and learning from mistakes. Earning a BS in Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering from Clarkson University and an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech, he applies his skill set towards gas turbine design and repair all over the world as the global owner of F-Class rotor repair. Andrew has several patents filed with the US Patent office on these subjects.
Andrew is also heavily involved with woodworking, especially the Shaker style where functionality is of the upmost importance and the style’s beauty is its simplicity. His home is filled with handmade pieces that he made himself using traditional methods and locally sourced lumber.
Andrew is a Gas Turbine Rotor Repair Engineer for GE Power and Water in Greenville, SC.
R&D Editions 