RoKoivu's photostream

My paintings are a process of listening and waiting, responding and embellishing. Each piece begins in a single moment of spontaneity with either splashing and puddling water or the pencil leading my hand. Then I listen and watch. I incorporate text from pop music, literature, friends’ quotes, politics, and the news. I draw, erase, draw, smudge, scrape, scumble, sand, burnish, wash or scrub as needed. Each mistake I embrace as part of the process, and often those marks lead me to new discoveries. The final piece always surprises me; sometimes with ideas and impetus about artmaking; sometimes with revelations about my personal life, or society and relationships. I always feel as if I have made a new friend.

This work responds to the suffering and destructive relationships that have evolved between humans and other inhabitants of this world by creating a nurturing and positive environment to facilitate healing. It is a swan song for the planet that humanity has ravaged so mercilessly and a love letter to those who have fallen and to the protectors and the revolutionaries. The tender relationships between critters, animorphs, and human-like figures are a vision of a symbiotic community full of hope for the future, infused with the belief that we can heal. These imaginings are a meditation to encourage the dreamers.


Solo and Duo Exhibitions:

2008

"A Swan Song, A Love Letter, A Blanket": An Installation of new works on paper accompanied by sculpture by Katie Simpson and Pollution Party, Launch Pad Gallery, Portland OR

2007

"SickleSweet Swallowings: A Toothsome Tale of Irreparable Indigestion" An interactive installation by Pollution Party (Duo with Bettina McEntyre), The Life Gallery, Portland OR
"Plutonium, the Forgotten Plant: 100 Years in Trashland Nature Reserve", An Installation and Guided Tour by Pollution Party (Duo with Bettina McEntyre), Backspace Gallery, Portland OR
"All Throughout", G.R.O.W. Gallery, Portland OR

2006
"A Strange Bird Has Landed: Stick Your Neck Out and Make Some Waves", Zeitgeist Gallery, Portland, Oregon
"Narrated", Cinetopia, Vancouver, WA
"Future Children", Wallflowers, Portland, Oregon
"Printed, Invented, and Found", Gallery B93, Enschede, Netherlands
"Just Long Enough", Grafisch Atelier ‘t Gooi, Hilversum, Netherlands

2005
"Tortoise", Food for Thought Student Gallery, Portland, OR
2003
"You Don’t Say", Center Street Studios, Portland OR
2001
"Hoppers", Pizzicato Restaurant, Portland, OR


Group Exhibitions

2007
"Secrets", Launch Pad Gallery, Portland OR
"We Must Learn to Speak as Prophets" The Life Gallery, Portland OR
"30x30x30", Launch Pad Gallery, Portland OR
"Kitchen Sink" A Multidisciplinary Arts Event, Portland, OR
"The Life Opening Salon Show", The Life Gallery, Portland, OR
"The Love Show", Launchpad Gallery, Portland OR

2006
"My America", Launchpad Gallery, Portland, OR
"Kitchen Sink", A Multidisciplinary Arts Event, Portland, OR
"Cypher: Book Arts of the AKI", Coda Museum, Apeldoorn, Netherlands.

2005
"Page and Seam: Book Arts of Portland State", Littman Gallery, Portland, OR, Invitational, Curated by Susan Harlan.
"Loveseat Rickshaw Rides" A Collaborative Interactive Performance, with Harrell Fletcher and fifteen other artists, Portland, OR
"Flight 64 Print", Basil Halliward Gallery, Portland, OR

2004
"One Foot After Another", Mark Woolley Gallery, Portland, OR
"Remnants, Seconds, and Souvenirs", Littman Gallery, Portland, OR
"Filling Space", Autzen Gallery, Portland, OR. Curated by Susan Harlan and Horia Boboia, Invitational.
"Portland Artists", Aftermath Gallery, Seattle WA. Curated by James Archer.
"Not of this World", Secluded Alley Works, Seattle, WA. Curated by J. Archer.
2003
"Seventh Annual Brooklyn Art Walk", Center Street Studios, Portland, OR
2002
"Sixth Annual Brooklyn Art Walk", Center Street Studios, Portland, OR
"City Fusion", Glisan Gallery, Portland, OR
2001
"Fifth Annual Brooklyn Art Walk", Center Street Studios, Portland, OR

Public Art

2006
"Share the Road", mural on Community Cycling Center, Portland, OR
2004
"Canopy", Installation in the South Park Blocks, Portland OR
2003
"Bodies in Motion", mural for Portland State University athletic center

Benefits
2008 Pulse Live Auction benefit for the Children's Heart Foundation, Juried by Mark Woolley
2004
Cascade Aids Project auction, Juried catalogue selection, Portland, OR
Student Supporters of P:ear auction, Portland, OR
Flight 64 Printmaking Collective benefit exhibition,Portland, OR

2003
PSU Hi-Lo auction, Portland OR
Cascade Aids Project auction, Portland, OR

Awards and Artist's Residencies

2006
Artist-in-Residence, Studio B93, Enschede, Netherlands
2005
Printmaking Intensive, Stichting Grafisch Atelier ’t Gooi, Hilversum, Netherlands
2004
Piacentini Scholarship
2003
Honorable Mention Art Scholarship
2002
Art Department Bookstore Scholarship

Education

2005
Portland State University, Bachelor of Arts Cum Laude

Relevant Volunteer Experience

Organizer of Artist's Studio, 2008 (ongoing)
Taught an arts workshop in Koppola elementary school in Teuva, Finland October 2005
Coordinator, Food for Thought Student Gallery, April 2004-June 2005
Project Coordinator, Stott Center Mural, April 2003

Collections

Hengelo Arts Center, The Netherlands
Janice Altman
AKI Enschede, NL
James Archer
Norm and Carolyn Butters
Laura Ross-Paul
Susan and Jordan Harlan
Ann Sacks

Commissions

2006 "From the Rabbit Hole to the Moon", Album Cover,
Vance Crofoot
2005 "Gaze", Mixed Media Painting, Diane Ayala,
Chicago, IL
2004 "Binding Ties", Elizabeth Winslea, Portland, OR
2003 "Landscape Life Forms", Pauline Kaner, Bloomfield
Hills, MI
2002 "Fruition", Food for Thought Cafe, Portland, OR