Christiana Lehmann, Printmaker, Graphic Designer, Musician

ALFRED: Christiana Lehmann has wanted to work in an art field for about a long as she can remember. She has a memory of an interest area test in which her choices indicated that she might do well if she aimed her studies toward an art field. In elementary school, for a flicker of time, she considered being a teacher but shortly realized that would be a disaster – too much talking and not enough drawing. Other than that moment of considering teaching, art is what she has pursued.

                Christiana graduated from Arlington High School, about an hour and a half north of New York City. When it came time to choose a school, she narrowed it to Pratt and Alfred and one of the things that tilted strongly toward Alfred was the Performing Arts Department.

                Christiana started flute lessons when she was about 9 and continued with flute in high school and through her 4 years in Alfred. She started playing acoustic guitar when she was 13 and spent a few semesters studying piano at Alfred. Her newest instrumental experience is with the cello which she has played for just over a year.

                She played in Symphonic Band all 4 years and has been a member of the flute choir since it started. She played flute in both Symphonic Band and Orchestra one year and then started cello lessons so played in the cello section of the orchestra this year. The cello attracted her because of the glorious sound it can make. That range of tones is so rich and full that she had to give it a try.

                Christiana’s degree will be a Bachelor of Fine Arts and she has chosen to concentrate on graphic design and printmaking. Her senior thesis show, Melodic Dissonance, will combine drawings, handmade flutes and recorded music. In this title, Christiana is the melody. It’s the music within her and the emotions that music brings to her. She is the midst of carving print blocks that reference music and the emotional aspect of music. The dissonance in the melody is the repeated stamping of the blocks in overlapping rows, columns and patterns to create new designs with the varied placements.

                All of her stamps have designs 5 lines representing the lines of the music staff. She showed me some prints that are done in gray, black and white or just black and white. Some of the stamps are just a few inches in size but she places them on the paper over and over to create huge designs and said she is never sure how the small patterns will look when they are used over and over. One large print has curved lines that reference the shape of the cut out on a cello. Stamps made in straight lines sometimes give diagonal designs or a sort of plaid. The surprising outcomes are part of the fun of printmaking.

                Christiana likes functional art and decided that her thesis show would include a collection of handmade, functional flutes. She chose to make the flutes from bamboo because it is a natural and fast growing material and thought she could get some at a garden center. Instead she had to order bundles of it from the also fast-growing but perhaps not so sustainable Amazon. Needs must.

                Early in the flute making process she discovered things about flutes and bamboo. One is that bamboo is brittle and cracks sometimes when drilled. Another is that bundles of bamboo contain some long narrow poles amid long wide poles with few being a great diameter for a flute. Another is that the head of a flute needs to be smaller in diameter than the body of the flute to be in tune.

                She starts by drilling the mouth piece hole and then gets what she calls the original note to sound true. After she successfully gets an original first note she applies mathematics to determine the placement for finger holes. She plans to have 13 flutes starting with a low D and going up the scale in half steps to the D one octave above.

                When you attend her show, if plans aren’t modified, you will see a display of her flutes amid the prints based on the line designs. You’ll hear recordings of her playing the flutes which will be blended and edited and played in a loop.

                The designs will be printed on the flutes as well as on paper. She learned that if she prints on acetate and wraps it around a flute, she can burnish the acetate to transfer the print to the bamboo flute.  

                This semester has been Christiana’s favorite time at AU. She has her thesis show work, music including both Symphonic groups and flute choir and Astronomy to more than fill her days as she thinks about finding a job in graphic arts after graduation. She’s enjoyed her time in Alfred but plans to move south toward the milder weather that her siblings live and work in, and, no offense to The Rogue Carrot, near a large grocery store.

                Senior thesis shows are always on a Saturday evening. May 5^th is the date set for this year and the time is the usual 4 to 7 pm. Christiana Lehmann’s work will be in section B10 in Binns-Merrill Hall. There will be dozens of other graduating seniors showing their work on the campus and in town. Follow an excited crowd and make it into an active area where there will be labeled maps to guide you.Senior Shows are free and open to the public though parking areas are scarce.