Raven Halfmoon
August 19 2022 - December 31 2022
at Missoula Art Museum

“Halfmoon’s latest collection of work was created during her recent residencies at the University of Montana Ceramics department and Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts. Known for her monumental figurative sculpture, Halfmoon’s exhibition features her bold figures that are a continuance and expansion of contemporary Caddo culture

Halfmoon is from Norman, Ok. and a member of the Caddo Nation, which has a long tradition of ceramics, particularly pottery. She recently completed a two-year residency at the Archie Bray in Helena, Montana, and is one of a very few Native artists to participate in its prestigious international residency program.

The artist hand-builds her sculptures with coil and uses thick layers of black, white, or red glaze cover exposing areas of raw clay. The bold and sizable figures, some of which top several hundred pounds and rise over 9 feet tall, represent women and Caddo’s matrilineal culture.
“I consider [the sculptures as] multiple facets of me,” said Halfmoon. “But they also represent multiple generations—my great-great-grandmother, grandmother, my mother, my aunt, cousins, my ancestors, and what they’ve created.”

Sometimes Halfmoon scrawls declarations across a piece. Most prominent are the artist’s name in bold letters—an assertion of identity, determination, and agency—or pithy phrases that counter racism and stereotypes.

“Halfmoon’s work is cultural work,” said Brandon Reintjes, senior curator at the Missoula Art Museum. “Just as she is extending our understanding of Caddo culture specifically, she is fighting stereotypes of Native people broadly, all the while contributing to the development and understanding of contemporary ceramics.”

~Missoula Art Museum

https://missoulaartmuseum.org/exhibit...
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For more information:

https://www.ravenhalfmoon.com/