Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) art and design professor Nancy Palmeri has been selected for “(Im)Possible Parallels,” an international exhibition on view at Proyecto ’Ace Gallery in Buenos Aires, Argentina, showcasing contemporary printmaking and drawing.
Palmeri’s inclusion follows a call for submissions distributed through the Southern Graphics Council International (SGCI), where artists were selected based on portfolio review and submitted works. Her selection recognizes both her artistic practice and her continued engagement with international printmaking networks.
Her featured work, “Le Bugie Scaglio (I Cast Away Lies),” is a color-reduction woodcut printed on handmade Japanese paper. The process requires carving, inking and printing in reverse on wood, often over multiple eight-hour studio days, with drying time required between each layer before the final print is complete and ready for exhibition.
“I’m interested in the idea of language and communication across cultures,” said Palmeri. “The title can mean “I shed the lies” or “I throw out the lies,” but translation is never one-to-one. That ambiguity reflects how we interpret meaning based on our own experiences.”
The exhibition brings together 40 global artists, exploring relationships between place, memory and the printed image through processes that investigate repetition, transformation and the layering of visual information. Visually, Palmeri’s work contrasts a camouflage-like background with a direct message, inviting viewers to consider how beauty, language and presentation can sometimes obscure deeper meaning.
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Palmeri, who was trained as a printmaker, views printmaking as a medium rooted in shared experience.
“There is value in the multiple,” Palmeri said. “Like listening to the same song over and over, each viewing can reveal something new. What matters most is how viewers respond, what they feel, what they notice and how they interpret the artists’ decisions.”
That philosophy extends into her teaching at SEMO, where she encourages students to slow down, look closely and develop confidence in their own interpretations.
“Teaching fuels my work,” Palmeri said. “Even when I’m in the studio, I’m thinking about what I can share with my students.”
Palmeri brings decades of experience in higher education and studio practice to SEMO, including more than 30 years of teaching at the university level. Her active studio practice also includes large-scale drawings and mosaic work, with recent pieces exhibited in SEMO’s biennial faculty exhibition at Crisp Museum. Palmeri has exhibited her work nationally and internationally at venues such as the Istanbul Museum of Graphic Art (IMOGA), Museo de Artes Contemporáneas Plaza, Proyecto ’Ace Gallery and the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, in addition to solo exhibitions in cities across the United States and Europe.
Palmeri hopes her exhibition experiences encourage students to pursue their own creative ambitions.
“You have to have the drive and discipline to do this work,” she said. “If something doesn’t turn out the way you want, you go back to it and keep working. As artists and designers, we are always learning and always improving, and that’s exactly what we do alongside our students here at SEMO.”
Want to learn from working artists who bring international experience to the classroom? Visit semo.edu/art-design.