Rob McConnell
How did you discover your passion for art?
“In high school I was taking art classes and in middle school too. When I went from high school to college, I knew I wanted to do something with art. I was trying to find somewhere to do applied art. I started out doing industrial design. I did that for a little bit, and then I went into the education side of things. I did graduate work in graphic design.
“It’s very rarely you think, ‘Oh, I’m going to do this,’ and that’s what you do. I went through different areas until I figured out what really works and what I was drawn towards. I think I always knew I wanted to do something in art because I liked the visual side of things. I liked that kind of freedom, and there not being one right answer and one wrong answer. There’s a lot of different options and possibilities and ways you can get there. I like that with art. That’s what drew me towards it and then I found my area.”
Where did you go to school? What did you study?
“I did my undergrad in Provo at BYU. I got my master’s in fine arts at MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art) in Baltimore. My undergrad at Provo was called technology and engineering education. Basically, it’s an education program for high school focused towards the design and engineering side of a classroom. I taught multimedia design for high school. That was my undergrad. I taught for a little bit at a high school and then I went back to grad school for my master’s. I got an MFA in graphic design. That’s what I teach now.”
How did you end up at BYU–Hawaii?
“I graduated with my master’s and I started working at a marketing firm in Baltimore. I was their designer, working on a bunch of different projects. I knew I always wanted to teach sometime, so I kept looking into postings for different schools. One showed up for here, so I applied. This is my fourth year.”
What advice would you give those who aren’t sure about pursuing art?
“There are two different types of people worried about art. One type is they want to do it, but they’re afraid they don’t have the skills to do it. Those people just need to spend time working on it. People are good at art because they practice, like any other talent or skill you work on.
“If you're afraid, you think, ‘I really want to do it but I’m a bad drawer,’ that’s why you take the figure drawing class to get better at it. Don’t be afraid of something if you're not good at it. That's why you practice and get better at it.
“There’s another category of people who don’t think art will do them any good or they can’t get a job in art. I think there’s a lot of skills you learn that can apply to a lot of different fields. It just depends on how you can apply it, or the work you put into it. Especially when I’ve looked at jobs, I’ve learned that if someone is willing to pay you for it it’s not easy. All jobs require some kind of work.
“When I went into art, it was something I enjoyed more than other things. I wanted to do something to bring me joy and something I could get fulfillment out of. It doesn’t come easy to me. It doesn’t come easy to other people. You need to work for it. It’s a lot of effort. I think that’s true for a lot of majors. No one is good at math unless you work on it or spend a lot of time doing it.”
Do you have any pieces you're especially proud of or learned a lot from?
“A lot of things. I think it’s really satisfying to do a project from the beginning and have no idea where it’s going and come out with an end result. It’s a tangible piece of work. A lot of stuff from my thesis project. Some of the other work I’ve done for people. Any time you invest time in a project, you're like, ‘Oh, I’m proud of that work.’ If you're not proud of that work, then it’s like, ‘Why?’
“The pieces I'm not proud of I have probably learned more from. When you do a project you’re not proud of, you go, ‘Why did that not work? What went wrong?’”
Jihae Kwon
How did you discover your passion for art?
“I always liked doing some kind of drawing when I was little. I never really wanted to be an artist. Never say never. I always said I would never teach, and here I am. It was kind of pushed on me by my mom. She said, ‘You're good at art. You should go into art.’
“I said, ‘No, mom. I want to be an archaeologist.’ She pushed me into it. She made me go to art school when I was in junior high. Then I stopped doing it because I really, really didn’t want to do it. I didn’t feel like I was good at it at all. Then, in high school my mom made me do it again.
“When I was in high school, I think I enjoyed it more. I got better at it. Ever since, I’ve stuck with it.”
Where did you go to school? What did you study?
“I went to the University of Utah for my undergrad. For my master’s I went to Corcoran College of Art and Design. At the U, I studied illustration and graphic design. At Corcoran, I studied book arts.”
What made you decide that’s what you wanted to study?
“I actually wanted to study painting and drawing first. I saw some beautifully illustrated children’s books in the library and decided to major in illustration. At the University of Utah, for illustration and graphic design you have to take the same classes sophomore year. During that time, I was exposed to graphic design.
“I finished my illustration major, graduated, worked for a few years, and then I realized, ‘Why am I stuck behind a computer when I could actually learn to do graphic design and do some stuff?’ I wasn’t really doing things. I went back to school and started doing graphic design. I worked as a graphic designer for 12 years before deciding to go back to school.”
Do you have any pieces you're especially proud of or have learned from?
“Probably my thesis work at grad school I learned a lot. It was all lithography. I had a lot of problems, but I was able to overcome them really quickly. I tell my students this all time: ‘I pray before I do anything.’ Any design work, any book art. I prayed a lot when I was doing my thesis because I had limited time. If something was really wrong, and I cannot solve it, everything gets backed up. Everything had to work exactly how I planned it and when I planned to finish it.
“All my professors were so surprised when my work turned out exactly how I said I would do it. That was probably one I’m really proud of so far. It’s partially about my family.”
How did you end up at BYU-Hawaii?
“I was a TA doing part-time work as a designer. I was one day contemplating what was happening during that time of my life. It just started from really unrelated thoughts to an epiphany that I should teach. It totally shocked me. It came out of nowhere. I think when you're ready, Heavenly Father puts thoughts in your heart and your mind to change your mind.
“Around the time I got that epiphany, I got on the computer and started looking for a teaching position. This position at BYU–Hawaii was the first one I found. The second one was at the University of Utah teaching book art. I was conflicted. I applied to both positions, but I got it here. The other one was not what I thought it was going to be. I have been here since November 2015.”
What kind of book art have you done?
“The most recent one I’ve done is called ‘Homeless Chickens.’ It’s about homeless chickens. The things I do with book art is inspired by ordinary things: Conversations I have with my family and friends, or things I see around me. I took pictures of homeless chickens around Oahu.”
“My thesis project: In English, it is ‘You Are With Me.’ It’s about the genocide that happened in Korea before and during the war. Two of my grandmother’s brothers were killed during that time. People were accused of being communist, and they were taken out into the fields and into the mountains and just killed. They were shot, without any trial. If a neighbor accused them of being communist, they could be shot in the street or right on the spot.”
What is difficult about your job?
“Although we try to be very objective, there is some subjective perspective embedded in there a little bit. When students do not trust their teachers and their suggestions and guidance, there’s not much I can do. I try not to force my ideas or my own likings on students. I just let them go. There is a limitation to how much I can do. Even with math, there is only so much math teachers can do. My math teachers couldn’t figure out how to help me do math at all.
“The limitation is when I see myself not being able to help my students see what I see. Also when I cannot help them see what I see in them. I see great potential in them, but they don’t trust that. They don’t trust in themselves. Sometimes I see students with lots of talent who don’t work hard enough. That’s why I pray hard.”
What is rewarding about being an art professor?
“When I see my students surpass me. That's the most rewarding thing. When I see my students doing something I couldn’t do, my work is done. I cannot take any credit for what they accomplish. I'm just nudging them. ‘Okay come here. Go this way. Don’t go that way.’ That’s all I do. It’s all them doing it. I just give them my suggestions. It’s all them figuring it out, struggling, trying it, getting it right. Maybe getting it not right and trying again.
“When I see my students surpass me and doing something really awesome that I couldn’t even do myself, I’m like, ‘Wow, that’s amazing.’ It’s not me at all. I’m not even the shepherd. I'm the sheepdog.”
What advice would you give to people who aren’t sure if they should pursue art?
“Never say never. I wanted to do archaeology. I didn’t do that. Sometimes, people are good at it and think they don’t want to do it because it’s not practical. If it’s something you're passionate about, you should pursue it. At the same time, liking art doesn’t make you good at it. No matter what, you have to work hard at it.
“As a teacher I can see when students are working hard enough and not enough. Being in school, it’s a fight with yourself. After you graduate it’s a fight with other people, your coworkers. Here, it is a battle within yourself. It’s up to you how much you grow as a person and an artist or not. It’s up to you how much you learn or not. For anyone who is interested in studying art, just do it. Don’t worry about the job opportunities or anything like that. As long as you keep the commandments and pay full tithing, Heavenly Father will feed you. Don’t worry about that. Pursue your passion.”
Writer: Haeley van der Werf