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William C. Bonaudi Library's Down the Research Rabbit Hole | Issue 14 | Rie Palkovic, Art Instructor | Wavering

04/07/2021
profile-icon Rhonda Kitchens

 

Rie Palkovic Issue 14 William C. Bonaudi Library's Down the Research Rabbit Hole

 

 

Explain the range and type of art you create and show. Do you have an artist's statement?

 

I am a painter. I paint in oils and mixed media drawings. I do paint on different surfaces such as canvas, paper, frosted Mylar, copper, and wood. I paint in realism mostly from nature. I do have an artist’s statement that I submit for competitions or grants that I apply for. Here’s an excerpt:

Palkovic's TsuruThe Japanese aesthetic ideals of suggestion, irregularity, simplicity, and perishability are the underlying principles that guide my painting and drawing.  These four basic principles guide my efforts to explore the link between art and nature that ebbs and flows much like nature itself wanes, dies, then rejuvenates to live anew.

The integration of Japanese aesthetics into my art making is an expression of dealing with the dualities of my identities. My father was an Irish-American from West Virginia and my mother was from Okinawa.  The tension of being neither Japanese nor American and yet being both is symbolized in my artwork by the ambiguities in space of the image.  The images are tentatively floating in space creating an anti-gravitational buoyancy for the viewer.  The compression of space evokes a sense of not knowing whether the image is receding or advancing.  This feeling is a good analogy of wavering I have felt and continue to feel.  It is an unsettling feeling of never feeling a part of your environment.  

Because of that unsettledness, I focus on the flora and fauna of the area where I currently live. I am also a huge fan of gardening, so plants take up a good deal of my imagination. I do tend toward the sharp, prickly sorts of plants that look ambiguous and can be mistaken for bugs or animal life. It reminds of a common question I have heard, “What is your ethnicity or where are you from?”

 

What research informs your work? Have you ever done a great deal of background work on a piece or a show?

I am a voracious reader and feel that it all informs my artwork. I love to read the memoirs or journals of artists and writers for a view into process. For the last several years I have been heavily researching the Northern Renaissance artists like Jan van Eyck, Hugo van der Goes, Rogier van der Weyden, and Hans Memling. The Northern Renaissance painters focused on a hyper realism that is so beautiful and wonderful and showed the wondrous textures of fabric and fur, metal and glass, and so on. I can get caught up in that level of realism in my own work but like the addition of abstract elements, too. 

 

As a working artist are there magazines, books, creators, or events that fuel your work and/or engagement in the art community?

 

Palkovic's SunflowerI have felt very isolated as an artist living here. We came from a close-knit artists’ community in New Mexico before we moved here. Everyone we knew was basically an artist of some kind. Getting feedback is an important part of making art for me and we had a wonderful group. We worked together and played together.  We are still close with many of those people and use social media for feedback and support. When we got to travel we met up every year or so to have some fun. One of my favorite memories involved some friends coming to visit. They are both painters and we set up four sheets of paper in the studio with materials, cranked the music loud, and played musical easels. We moved to each piece of paper and did our thing and moved on to the next after 15 minutes with no preset plans. The pieces are wild and colorful with energy. Such a great time! Later we sat around the fire pit and listened to our friend, Raul, read new poems he had written. All these kinds of events are not difficult but do involve action. It is too easy to get bogged down in theories without doing anything meaningful. But the meaningful does not have to be complicated. Art is not separate from life. It is such an integral part if we choose to acknowledge it. I read Homo Aestheticus Where Art Comes From and Why by Ellen Dissanayake some time ago. She posits the reflection that Art has been part of human life from the very beginning. Ancient humans painted on cave walls as well as found shelters and grouped in families. For some reason, Art was and is important and inherent in humans. 

 

Is there an artist(s) or person(s) that have served as an inspiration to you?

That depends on the day! I dearly love the work of German artist Anselm Kiefer. We saw a solo exhibition of his in San Francisco a few years ago. I walked around the museum crying it was so beautiful. He took salvaged material from bombed out Dresden from World War II and made giant books with wings and shelves that look like they are from God’s waiting room. He referenced the constellations and ancient myths. His work is so opposite from what I do and yet I love it and am so inspired by it!

I also love the work of Japanese American artist Ruth Asawa. She made hanging wire sculptures that were woven in organic forms. When hung with spotlights they cast wonderful shapes on the walls that change as you walk around them. 

These artists work in entirely different ways from the way I work but serve to inspire and fire my imagination in huge ways. It is so good to look at a variety of things. You don’t want to eat the same food all the time but need to change it up.

Rie's quote about her father.

 


​What book, poem, or study have you read that engaged you so deeply you were changed?

 

I started going to college when my children were small (ages 4, 6, 10) and I was 28 years old. The more I learned the more I wanted to learn. And the more I learn the more I know that there is so much out there. I read everything I could. I found the poem by Mary Oliver called The Journey. She has been my guide for so many years with other poets. Poetry is an ancient art, too, and very much a deep part of human nature. Other than the new friends I made at school I had no support at home. I had to dig down deep to who I was to continue my education. My determination to finish my education grew stronger each time I took a class. I remembered my father’s advice to get as much education as possible. And I am still in school.

 

Follow Rie on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/riepalkovic/

 

POEM:  The Journey by Mary Oliver
 

Poem The Journey Mary Oliver


 

 

SELECTED SOLO AND GROUP EXHIBITION

August 2016 Between Shadow and Space, solo exhibit
Unsettled Gallery
Las Cruces, New Mexico

November 2015 Casting Indra’s Net, Six artists group show
Moses Lake Museum and Art Center(MAC)
Moses Lake, WA

May 2014, 2015, Featured Artist for Cellarbration!

BBCC Foundation fundraiser
2016

June 2013 Betwixt and Between, MAC
Solo exhibition
Moses Lake Museum 
Moses Lake, Washington

April 2011 Medicine Show invitational, SLAM
Soap Lake, Washington

January 2011 MAC juried show, Moses Lake Museum
1st Runner up People’s Choice
Moses Lake, Washington

December 2010 Winter Show, Soap Lake Art Guild
Best Painting Award
Soap Lake, Washington

December 2009 Holiday Show, Imbibe
Moses Lake, Washington

August 2009 solo exhibition
Soap Lake Art Museum
Soap Lake, Washington

July 2009 Yin/Yang
Garage Gallery
San Francisco, California

June 2009 Solo Exhibition, Imbibe Gallery
Moses Lake, Washington

April 2008 Shouts and Murmurs Solo Exhibition, Tilde 
Portland, Oregon

Oct 2007 Waterline, a group show about fish
Crossing Tracks Gallery
San Diego, California

Oct 2006 Solo Exhibition
Seven Muses Gallery
Tacoma, Washington

April 2006 New Work, solo exhibition
Soap Lake Art Museum
Soap Lake, Washington

April 2006- River of Memory: The Everlasting Columbia

Sep 2008 Curators: William Layman and Terri White
Traveling exhibition to Wenatchee, Tacoma, Spokane, WA; Nelson, Victoria, BC; Pendleton, OR

Jan 2006 MAC Annual juried exhibition, 3rd Place Award 
Juror: Scott Bailey, Art Dept. Chair at Wenatchee Valley College
Moses Lake Museum & Art Center
Moses Lake, Washington

Jan 2006 Ink and Clay 32, Kellogg University Art Gallery
Jurors: Marilyn Zeitlan and Peter Held
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California

Feb 2005 Gallery 76, 21st National Juried Exhibition; 2nd Place Award
Jurors: Carol Hassen of Larsen Gallery and Robert Fisher of Yakima Valley Community College
Wenatchee Valley College, Wenatchee, Washington

Jan 2005 Moses Lake Museum & Art Center Juried Exhibition
Moses Lake, Washington

Sep 2004 Seven Muses Gallery, Dual Exhibition with Francis Palkovic
Tacoma, Washington

Apr 2004 Gallery 76 National Invitational, Gallery 76
Wenatchee Valley College, Wenatchee, Washington

Feb 2004 Art, Technology, & Culture, Gallery 76, Dual exhibition with Paul Stout, sculptor
Wenatchee Valley College, Wenatchee, Washington

Jan 2004 Columbia Basin Invitational,  Moses Lake Museum & Art Center Moses Lake, Washington. Award: Honorable Mention

Jan 2004 Greater Midwest International Exhibition XIX, Central Missouri State University Art Gallery, Warrensburg, Missouri, Juror: Douglass Freed, Director, Daum Museum of Contemporary Art

Jan 2004 Ink & Clay 30, Kellogg Art Gallery, California Polytechnic University

Pomona, California, Juror: Hollis Goodall, Curator of Japanese Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

March 2003 Okinawan American Princess Diaries, Moses Lake Museum & Art Center, Moses Lake, Washington

Apr 2002 18th National Juried Exhibit, Gallery ‘76, Juror’s Award
Wenatchee, Washington

Jun-Jul 2001 Forms 4, Chase Gallery
City Hall, Spokane, Washington

Mar-Apr 2001 17th National Juried Exhibit, Gallery ‘76
Best of Show Award, People’s Choice Award
Wenatchee, Washington

May-Jun 2000 Conversations from the Garden, Moses Lake Museum & Art Center
Solo Exhibition
Moses Lake, Washington

Jan-Feb 2000 Two Central Washington Ladies, High Spirits Gallery
Wenatchee, Washington

Jan-Feb 2000 Baked, Mashed, & Fried, Moses Lake Museum & Art Center
3rd Place Award, Potato Commission Purchase Award
Moses Lake, Washington

June 1999 Columbia Basin Invitational, Adam East Museum & Art Center
Moses Lake, Washington

Mar-Apr 1999 Group Exhibition, High Spirits Gallery
Wenatchee, Washington

Dec 1998 Solo Exhibition
Wallenstien Theatre, Columbia Basin Allied Arts
Big Bend Community College, Moses Lake, Washington
 

Nov 1998 43rd Annual Central Washington Artists Exhibition
Larson Gallery 
Yakima Valley Community College, Yakima, Washington

Mar 1998 The Many Lives of Women, Kent Hall Museum
New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM

Feb 1998 Hanging Around, Faculty Exhibition
El Paso Community College

The People’s Gallery, El Paso City Hall, TX
Sep 1997- Arte Sin Limites: Exposicion Fronteriza

July 1998 (Invitational; one of twelve artists representing Las Cruces)
Traveling Exhibition to Four Cities:
Museo de Arte, Juarez, Mexico, Centro de Arte Contemporaneo de Chihuahua ,Chihuahua City, Mexico, the Las Cruces Museum of Art and Culture, Las Cruces, New Mexico, and the Chamizal Gallery, El Paso, Texas

Sep 1997 Contemporary Asian Artists in America
Smithtown Township Arts Council
Mill’s Pond House Gallery, St. James, NY

Mar 1997 At Random, Faculty Exhibition
El Paso Community College
The People’s Gallery, El Paso City Hall, TX

Dec 1996 December Group Show Invitational
Galeri Azul, Mesilla, NM

July 1996 Border Artists and Friends Invitational
Adobe Patio Gallery, Mesilla, NM

Nov 1995 Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition
Kent Hall Museum, New Mexico State University, NM

June 1995 Image and Icon Exhibition (Invitational)
University Art Gallery, New Mexico State University, NM

April 1995 Solo Exhibition, 
Galeri Azul, Mesilla, NM

Feb 1995 Annual Juried Student Exhibition
Juror’s Choice Award
College of Arts and Sciences Award
University Art Gallery, New Mexico State University, NM

Oct 1994 2 x 4 Faculty/Alumni Invitational
Todd Madigan Gallery, Cal State University, Bakersfield, CA

June 1994 Close to the Border, Bi-annual juried exhibition
University Art Gallery Award
University Art Gallery, New Mexico State University, NM

 

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William C. Bonaudi Library's Down the Research Rabbit Hole | Issue 15 | David Mayhugh, Math Instructor | Juxtapositions
05/13/2021
profile-icon Rhonda Kitchens
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David Mayhugh banner Juxtapositions

 

You have a rich background of cultures and languages. Could you share some of those places and experiences?

 

        I was born and raised as a missionary kid in Macau, China.  At that time, it was still a Portuguese colony.  It is right by Hong Kong, so there were some British influences as well.  In general, Macau is a unique blend of East meets West.  At the time, I did not realise that most places in the world probably don't have the juxtaposition of a 2,000-year-old Buddhist temple and a 400-year-old Catholic church being down the street from each other or walking on cobblestone roads seeing a pastel coloured government building next to the historical family home of Dr. Sun Yat Sen.  Culture and language are always intertwined and being a missionary kid in Macau gave me exposure to Portuguese, Chinese, British, Filipino, Korean, Brazilian, and North American (US and Canada) cultures and languages.  You learn to be quite comfortable hearing multiple languages, at once, whether you can understand them or not.  It gave a lot of opportunity to find similarities and differences between the cultures and blend them together into my own personal culture.  For me, it was mainly a blend of Chinese and American cultures, as these were the strongest two in my life growing up.  I could probably talk more about all of this, but let us move on for now.

Macau Cathedral

Ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral in Macau. (2009). Wikimedia Commons. https://commons. wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20091003_Macau_Cathedral_of_Saint_Paul_6542.jpg

Almost all academics have personal research projects they sometimes work a lifetime on just as a matter of curiosity or passion.  Do have one or more?

        

        When I came to the US for university, I made sure to take my English 101 and 201 courses right away.  In these courses, I was given the opportunity to research my own topics much of the time.  I knew I wanted to be a math teacher.  I had experience going to international schools with kids from many different countries and had some idea that math was taught and organised differently around the world.  Pretty quickly I started to consistently research international math education.  Thankfully, at that time the second Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) had just been conducted, and new data and analyses were being published.  The results showed that many of the top-ranking countries for mathematics were in South East Asia.  This of course piqued my interest, having grown up in SE Asia!  Ever since then I have looked at studies and books that have tried to figure out why this is.
​

 

What do your read, listen to, watch, or do to keep up with your profession?

 

While there are a bunch of things teachers do to stay current (read books and articles on pedagogy or learning, follow #MathEd on Twitter, be part of National organisations like NCTM, go to conferences, etc.), I think what continually ends up being the most impactful in my teaching are times where I get to meet with my colleagues and discuss conferences or study a book together.  It is here where we get to analyse the research and figure out how to put into action in meaningful and feasible ways for our teaching and students.  Moreover, we continue to then analyse our implementation and work through the cycle of research – implement – analyse – adapt – re-implement to continually improve and grow.  


As a student, when did you know you were more math than English? 


​This is hard to determine.  I never thought of myself as being more math than English until high school.  It was then when studying and learning the two became more distinct.  I think it might be better said I started seeing a distinction between math and language arts.  What I mean is that we could switch to compare any other language besides English and Math and I think there would be similar distinctions.  English as a language in and of itself was not contrasted with math any more than Mandarin, Cantonese, or Portuguese.   

 

David Mayhugh Quote

To get to my point, it was in high school that I more clearly noticed how we studied math and language arts.  In math, we used the same foundational truths (axioms) and logical deductions for everything we did.  This meant we could follow each others’ reasonings and follow the math.  Using deductive reasoning it also gave use a logical guarantee and confidence to know what are studying is true and accurate (given the presuppositions).  

However, in language arts it seemed that outside of grammar it was never clear what our foundational truths were nor how to navigate.  Most of what we studied did not have an author’s guide to explain their thinking let alone purpose.  And yet, language arts expected us to figure this out.  Moreover, the strategy to do this mainly consisted of inductive reasoning, a fair amount of assumptions made, and very little explicit teaching of the hermeneutics used.  For me as a student at the time, it came across as we cannot know without a doubt what the author was originally intending but there is an expectation that I must come to the same conclusion as the teacher.  Again, this was my perception at the time.  How was the teacher supposed to be able to know and how could I trust that?  How was I supposed to be able to this independently without the expertise of the teacher?  I am a very literal person, so things like poetry or metaphor were much more difficult to understand, let alone justify.  

To put it simply, math was studied in a way that is universal regardless of my lack of cultural understandings and with quality logic while language arts was studied in a way that seemed sloppy and extremely biased, at the very least, with no guarantees.  So for me, I naturally gravitated and toward that which was accessible to me no matter who I was or where in the world I was learning it.

 

What book, poem, or study have you read that engaged you so deeply you were changed?​ 

The Bible is the clear and easy answer to this question.  I say this not only from a personal perspective because of the truths that change lives, but also from a more academic perspective.  From the last question, you might notice that studying language arts is not something that I have really enjoyed and have struggled with in my academic life.  As I have gotten older and learned more about determining and using quality hermeneutics, applying these to study the Bible has not only helped me better learn to read and understand it but also better connect to and use the skills of being a mathematician.  Both theology and mathematics are axiomatic systems and can be studied systematically. 

 

 

 

Math, Library and Research Skills
Database of the Month: eHRAF World Cultures
06/01/2020
profile-icon Rhonda Kitchens
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eHRAF World Cultures

Performers in a sing-sing gather in Wabag, Enga Province of Papua New Guinea. These gatherings typically constitute multiple different tribes and are always bursting with various art forms, from decorative body adornments, to the dance, song, and musical drum lines.

Performers in a sing-sing gather in Wabag, Enga Province of Papua New Guinea. These gatherings typically constitute multiple different tribes and are always bursting with various art forms, from decorative body adornments, to the dance, song, and musical drum lines. From eHRAF.

"eHRAF World Cultures contains ethnographic collections covering all aspects of cultural and social life. eHRAF is unique in having subject indexing at the paragraph level. This allows detailed and precise searching for concepts not easily found with keywords." - From Publisher.

The "e" stands for electronic. The HRAF is for Human Relations Area Files.

Selected features from publisher Yale University:

  • Ethnographic collections organized by regions, subregions, and cultures
  • Cross-cultural database includes
    • Indigenous peoples and ethnic groups
    • Immigrant cultures in the U.S. and Canada
    • Historical to contemporary time periods
    • Probability Sample Files designed for hypothesis testing
    • Currently over 300 cultures and over 600,000 pages
  • Comprehensive summaries in Browse Cultures include topics such as
    • Economy
    • History and Cultural Relations
    • Family and Kinship
    • Sociopolitical organization
    • Religion

This teaching and research tool covers: 

  • Anthropology
  • Other social sciences–economics, sociology, psychology, political science
  • History
  • Religion
  • Law and Justice
  • Arts and Architecture
  • Interdisciplinary programs–Area studies, child development, environment, multicultural studies, peace and conflict, gender studies, gerontology
  • Agriculture
  • Biology and Botany
  • Health and nutrition
  • Medicine and nursing
  • Astronomy

EXPLORE...

Art / Art History, Religion and Religious Studies
Ask A Librarian 24/7/365
03/18/2020
profile-icon Rhonda Kitchens
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The library is available to students 23/4/7 365!

Ask A Librarian is available 25/7/365 on every library page

Basic Skills, Library and Research Skills