The Unseen is the result of the first Nerman Museum undergraduate curatorial practicum developed throughout the summer of 2026. Each student surveyed and researched the museum’s permanent collection and collectively curated this installation. Selecting Terran Last Gun’s Another Human Being Experience: Return of the Unseen to Offer Guidance as a foundation, the cohort composed a central theme. The works in this exhibition represent the spectrum of humanity and encourage us to ponder the experiences that make us human.

Together, these works serve as a visual interpretation of personal and universal experiences, each alluding to beliefs, emotions, and histories. We often neglect the role the unseen plays in shaping each of us as individuals, yet while obscure or abstract, these experiences become a collection of hidden histories and memories we carry with us, shaping our perception of the world. These artworks give form to the intangible and ineffable, allowing us to perceive and engage them in the physical world.

The use of paper acts as a common thread, and varied processes, including textile, collage, drawing, and printmaking showcase the range of ways this simple material can convey meaning. Just as paper must be preserved to avoid degradation over time, the practice of retelling stories becomes an act of preservation too, keeping the stories alive year after year through our memories. Through these pieces, the threads that connect us to each other become tangible.

—Curatorial Interns: Mayte Caballero, Kai Davidson, Freya Gery, D’Naysha Lee, Sheila Njiru, Ansel Middleton, and Neema Senin

This exhibition is supported in part by a grant from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation.