Gallery With A Cause • Located in the New Mexico Cancer Center • Benefitting the NMCC Foundation
Please call gallery director Regina Held to arrange a private gallery tour, make a purchase, or ask any questions.
Biography
Rainer, born in Germany and raised in Mexico City, now resides in Albuquerque. He has a BSc in chemical engineering, a Ph.D. in chemistry and an M.A.T in bilingual/ESL education. He worked 15 years in the pharmaceutical industry, four in a museum, taught English in China and Thailand, and is a translator: PRIDE by Governors State University and the Illinois Department of Family and Children Services.
Dr. Zawadzki has lived in China, Mexico and Thailand. Besides being an English language research paper editor for Rajamangala University of Technology Lanna in Thailand and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, he serves on the editorial boards of European Journal of Education Research, European Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and European Journal of English Language Teaching.
Artist Statement
I have dry, age-related macular degeneration (AMD). It was diagnosed 11 years ago. I am participating in a clinical trial with Eye Associates of New Mexico that will last two years.
As an artist, losing my sight has meant some exciting adjustments. I now close my eyes and paint what I see. I have not been able to reproduce the flashing brightly colored shapes, but the darkly colored backgrounds have yielded. Often, I also see faces, many quite vivid, others quite somber, but they are all surrounded by lights and often brilliant backgrounds. If I look at things through half-closed eyes, I see existing objects, brightly colored, through a black paper-cut foreground. My ability to reproduce fine detail has diminished; the hand no longer follows what the eyes see. My ability to paint murals is still intact.
It is an exciting adventure, and I greedily try to reproduce what I see with my eyes closed.