As part of AAI’s Art(Inter)Action program, Cuchifritos is proud to present “The Milk is the Medium,” an exhibition of Greg Bernhardt and Hannah Sessions, two cheesemakers and painters whose work is a reflection on the many connections between agriculture and art. The exhibition is curated by Anne Saxelby

The paintings of Greg Bernhardt and Hannah Sessions, both goat cheese makers and painters, reflect the activities that shape their daily lives as well as the agricultural landscape of the Champlain Valley. Greg and Hannah met while studying art in Italy, and started Blue Ledge Farm at the tender age of 23. They transitioned the farm (a traditional Vermont dairy) from cows to goats, and began making award-winning cheeses, raising a family, and pursuing their artistic goals simultaneously, as they believe that art is truly a product of life.

In these times, people are looking for meaning and authenticity, both in what they consume via food, and in the images that they surround themselves with. Images of farms, animals, and food satisfy our yearning for a simple, wholesome life. The images created by Bernhardt and Sessions are humble and stoic, quotidian and marvelous, all at the same time. There is an honesty to the paintings that quiets the spirit and beckons the viewer to contemplate the place where they were created.

In our postmodern world our most basic needs, food especially, have become distorted by large corporations. It is easy to forget that all societies are in fact rooted in agriculture. Agriculture in general, and cheesemaking in particular, are both forms of art in and of themselves. A good farmer shapes and builds his or her land over a lifetime, hoping to create a masterpiece that can be handed down to and sustained by subsequent generations. An edible byproduct of dairy farming is cheese, the making of which is an incredibly intricate art. It has been said that cheese is milk’s leap toward immortality; each wheel is an artifact of a particular time, place, and season. The cheese maker is the artist responsible for transforming that milk and shepherding it towards immortality.

Greg Bernhardt and Hannah Sessions weave art into the fabric of their daily lives. This show will delight all the senses, as the viewer can see into their worlds, as well as taste the fruits of their labors at Saxelby Cheesemongers, a cheese shop adjacent to Cuchifritos.