Art by Northwest

Brangien Davis travels east to Spokane, where she meets Venezuelan-born printmaker and muralist Reinaldo Gil Zambrano, aka RGZ. Whether architectural elements carved into large woodblocks or surrealist storytelling painted on walls, Zambrano’s comic-book-influenced artwork blends Latin American and Northwest traditions. In his questioning of borders, he is finding and shaping home.

Zooming in on the forests of the Pacific Northwest, Brangien Davis joins Kenmore-based photographer Melinda Hurst Frye, whose work reveals the unseen world beneath our feet. We get a bug’s-eye view of how Hurst Frye employs a flatbed scanner to document tiny ecosystems, highlighting roots, insects and fungi in stunningly high-res images that spotlight and celebrate quiet networks underground.

Down in the valley of Thorp, Washington, Brangien Davis meets Justin Gibbens, an artist creating meticulously composed yet highly imaginative wildlife illustrations. Blending the precision of scientific drawing with unexpected surrealism, Gibbens transforms familiar animals into fantastical hybrids, inviting us to re-experience the natural world with humor and curiosity.

Brangien Davis heads southeast to Walla Walla, Washington, where she meets Keiko Hara, an artist whose energetic and boldly hued compositions reflect personal and geographical memories from her 40-year career as a creative. In this deep dive into Hara’s process, we uncover how her intuitive approach to painting invites viewers into dreamlike, contemplative spaces shaped by emotion and experience.

Brangien Davis travels north to visit Joe Feddersen, an Omak, Washington-based artist who brings Native Plateau aesthetics to the forefront while addressing contemporary themes like racial justice and the environment. A member of the Colville Confederated Tribes, Feddersen shares his vision through several media, including glass, basketry and printmaking, and works to build community within each.

Brangien Davis journeys across the state to Pullman, Washington, to meet ceramicist and art professor Io Palmer, whose complex "hedgerows" take the form of vividly colored thickets made from multiple individual clay forms. Hung on walls in clusters, Palmer’s vibrant sculpture feels almost alive as it challenges perceptions of domestic spaces, who is welcome where and societal excess.

Brangien Davis ventures to Orcas Island, Washington, to visit printmaker Eduardo Fausti, whose abstract, richly inked monotypes are a reflection of his serene home and the surrounding forests, sounds and vistas. From his atmospheric monoprint series to celestial mezzotints, Fausti reveals how printmaking is a meditation all its own.

Brangien Davis meets Jennifer Angaiak Wood, a Yup’ik artist based in Indianola, Washington, who carves wooden masks in the style of her Native heritage. In this episode, we explore Wood’s approach to her work, which bridges long-held traditions with a contemporary viewpoint and highlights the enduring presence of Indigenous culture.