Pressure, process and persistence in The Hydraulic Press

The School of Art Student Gallery is currently presenting The Hydraulic Press, an exhibition by Ghost Nedohin-Macek and Sera Busceti that captures the intensity, experimentation and creative momentum of student life in the studio.

On view from March 18–25, 2026, the exhibition brings together work made throughout the artists’ time at the School of Art, offering a snapshot of evolving practices shaped by assignments, deadlines and the demands of learning through making. Featuring painting, printmaking, ink, digital art and more, The Hydraulic Press reflects both the challenges and rewards of developing as an artist within the structure of art school. 

The exhibition title grew out of a shared joke between the two artists during a particularly demanding stretch of the semester. As assignments piled up around midterms, the pressure of keeping up with coursework became both overwhelming and strangely energizing. 

“The name of the show was a quip that I came up with,” said Ghost Nedohin-Macek, a third-year student in the School of Art. “We were in the month around midterms and the assignments were all stacking up and weighing down on us, and I described it to Sera as feeling like we were a squishy in a hydraulic press and that became the joke that got us through the crunch period.” 

What began as a practical idea — exhibiting work already produced for class — became something more reflective in the process of installation. Seen together in the gallery, the works reveal not only the range of each artist’s interests, but also a visible record of growth over time.

“After setting everything up in the gallery I realized that The Hydraulic Press was not just a show of the art that we had on hand but a traceable evolution of our skills as the experience of art school pushed us to improve,” Ghost said.

That sense of progression is central to the exhibition. In the School of Art, assignments often come with specific parameters, asking students to respond to technical or conceptual prompts while still finding room for their own voice. The Hydraulic Press shows how individuality persists within those structures, and how recurring interests continue to surface across different media and course projects. 

“In the School of Art, one tends to have assignments with pretty specific guidelines, so our work isn’t always the thing we would do if we had total freedom,” Ghost said. “Fine Art, however, still allows for creativity, and I still tend to incorporate the things I love into my assignments, like my birds and the sky.” 

The exhibition also speaks to a wider student experience familiar far beyond the studio: the pressure of working toward a deadline, the balance between exhaustion and satisfaction, and the strange joy of making something under constraint. Rather than polishing that experience into something overly finished, The Hydraulic Press embraces the mess, energy and persistence that often define creative work in progress. 

“I hope that people will see our show and relate to the feeling of working on a project and running up against the deadline and having to stop but still being happy with the final result,” Ghost said. “I also hope that people will just enjoy it. After all, I make art to make me happy (and pass my classes) and I hope some of that emotion reaches the audience as well.” 

Together, the works in The Hydraulic Press offer an honest and lively reflection on what it means to learn through doing. The exhibition is both a celebration of what these artists have made so far and a reminder that growth often happens in the midst of pressure, experimentation and process.

About the Student Gallery

The School of Art Student Gallery presents ever-changing exhibitions throughout the academic year, typically on view for one to two weeks at a time. Exhibitions are organized by School of Art students in conjunction with the Student Art Curatorial Selection Committee, offering students an important opportunity to gain hands-on experience programming, preparing, and mounting exhibitions as part of their developing professional creative practices.

Location: 158 Taché Arts Complex (Taché 2), 150 Dafoe Road, University of Manitoba
Learn more: umanitoba.ca/art/student-gallery