Printmaker Allison Bianco’s latest solo exhibition, on display in the Weil Gallery of Watson Fine Arts, sheds new light on the art of printmaking. Through the unique medium itself as well as through personally important themes, Bianco’s work, “Atlantic Time,” explores the role that place and experience play in informing how and what the artist creates.

On Tuesday, Feb. 14, Bianco visited the Wheaton campus in order to deliver an “Artist Talk” in which she explained, in greater detail, her work in printmaking and the story behind her inspiration for “Atlantic Time.” Bianco’s instillation centers on the relatable theme of nostalgia. In her talk, she explored the complexities of nostalgia as an emotion and as a concept.

For Bianco, nostalgia is an emotion that cannot be fully understood, until an individual leaves a place. According to this definition, nostalgia is a simultaneously happy and sad emotion because it evokes in the individual a feeling of longing to return to a reality that no longer exists or may have never really existed; yet it also induces feelings of happiness because that place and the memories associated with it are worth cherishing.

A childhood spent in Rhode Island along the Atlantic coastline lends itself to the theme of this particular collection. Piece titles such as “The Old Jamestown Bridge,” “The Sinking of Matunuck” and “Later that Day at Second Beach” reveal this commonality through reference to sites familiar to anyone who hails from the Ocean State. It turns out that the story behind the art is just as important as the art itself.

Bianco’s exhibition will be on display in the Weil Gallery until Feb. 22, but opportunities to see her work displayed will surely abound.

To keep up to date or become familiar with Bianco’s work, visit allisonbianco.com.