Opening on Thursday, Oct. 27 at the Center for Emerging Visual Artists is the show “Modulate.” The reception on Thursday lasts from 5 until 7 p.m., and the exhibit itself runs through Nov. 22. The show features two artists: Allison Kaufman and Ana B. Hernandez. While they seem utterly different in their approach, these two artists ask somewhat similar questions with their art.

Hailing originally from Spain, Hernandez explores various simple materials and colors and how they interact. She received her BA from the University of Central Florida in 2002 in ceramics and fibers and later attended Temple University’s Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia for her Master of Fine Arts in fibers and textiles. Her work ultimately explores the female body and how it relates to its environment. As far as mediums are concerned, Hernandez utilizes things like fabric, thread and shells. Through repetition and insistence, she brings her emphasis down right between the created and the natural – the area in which her art lives. Her work speaks of adaptation and new functions. Seashells in her piece “Wish You Were Here” take on the elements of separation and time. They proceed in a straight line, hinting at the ever-present, consecutive appearance of time but also hang just out of reach of one another.

Kaufman is a photo and video artist from New York City. She received her BFA in Film and Television Production from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2000 and her MFA in Photography, Video and Related Media from the School of Visual Arts in 2008. Her work is often times a study of human interaction and emotion. Her videos in the “Guitar Center” series focus on the loneliness and fantasy inherent in the predominantly male culture of music store performers. She documents impromptu performances by strangers in these settings, which highlight the very human desire to be seen and recognized. The need for acceptance and recognition branches into many parts of our lives, but in particular makes itself known through individuals’ means for expression, be it visual art or musical performance.

Both artists take very different approaches to examining our shared humanity, as well as gender roles and interpersonal relationships. On one hand, Hernandez studies the female form through abstract representation of recognizable materials. Kaufman poses her questions about human behavior through documentation and photographic media. The overlap, of course, is that nagging question about what, exactly, it means to be human.

The Center for Emerging Visual Artists (CFEVA) is located at 237 S. 18th St., The Barclay, 3rd floor; 215-546-7775.