You can learn a lot about a person by the state of their hands.
Kara Gunter is exploring the surprisingly intimate experience of holding a stranger’s hand with her latest project: “Hands-On: A Community Hand-Casting Project.” Gunter, a studio artist and adjunct professor of fine art at USC, often analyzes and delves into concepts of the archetypal self and its relation to the visceral nature of the human experience. The Lexington native studied sculpture and small metal works at Winthrop University and later received a MFA in 3-dimensional studies and ceramics at USC in 2009.
This project is a conjunction between the Richland County Public Library and the Carolina Archive of Storytelling. Gunter has completed six previous casting sessions around Columbia, but on July 1the library will host the largest event thus far, with 12 individuals participating.
For the project, Gunter live casts two individuals hands. A writer sits down with the participates to facilitate conversation, and photographer takes a portrait photo of each individual involved. The end result is a gallery display of the sculptures, stories and photographs to create a unique narrative “package."
The inspiration for a community casting project came to Gunter after her experience live casting in her own personal sculpture, after casting the hands of multiple generations of women.
“I really loved the experience and I thought it was something that I could offer to other people,” Gunter said.
She started a small business casting the hands of friends and family members, until it eventually expanded into others in the community.
“It sort of made me realize that we’re all going through our [own struggles]. It made me more compassionate and empathetic toward people, [by] being invited into these very emotional, intimate circumstances,” Gunter said.
She has found that during the 45 minutes that the strangers were required to hold hands as Gunter completed the casting, people start to open up to each other. She noted that after the process was complete, individuals usually chose to linger and continue their discussions.
“I just wanted to see if I could bring that to other people, especially in this climate of division. I wanted to do something positive, I wanted to see if I could help people look beyond these arbitrary divisions that we draw in the sand,” Gunter said. “I think that people find that we are so much more alike than we are different.”
Gunter aims to unveil the entirety of the project by January of next year, but she posts images and stories to her blog periodically. If you are interested in participating in the project, fill out an interest form here.