We Are Here! - Conversation with Raven Halfmoon

After years of planning a conversation together for the podcast, artist and friend Raven Halfmoon and I sat down for a chat on a sunny summer afternoon above the clay education workspace at the Archie Bray Foundation for Ceramic Arts in Helena, Montana. We talked about the beginning of Raven’s path as an artist and how, although she works across mediums, her practice has most recently been centered in clay- and she has been going big! We speak to her conceptual approach of building large scale ceramics as a means to take up space for Indigenous women and how her recent works echo her community and cultural inspirations. We speak about navigating within the various art worlds including the ceramic and clay community, the Native art world and the larger contemporary art market. Raven shares how working with clay has taught her patience, understanding and an acknowledgement that failure, as much as success, is part of the clay journey. As we round out the conversation, Raven reflects on how as artists, we can’t just stay cooped up in our studios, we also have to go out, live our lives and be with our communities in order to be able to do our creative work in a sustainable way. Raven reminds us to find balance and practice great care with one of the most valuable resources we possess, time. Raven Halfmoon (Caddo Nation) is from Norman, Oklahoma. She attended the University of Arkansas where she earned a double Bachelors Degree in ceramics/painting and cultural anthropology. Her work has been featured in multiple exhibitions throughout the U.S. as well as internationally. Raven lives and works in Norman, OK. She is represented by Kouri+Corrao Gallery in Santa Fe, NM and Ross+Kramer Gallery in New York, NY.