Artist's Avenue: Raven White

Raven White is a studio art major with a focus in photography and drawing. She also renamed herself — not legally — Raven because it is gender neutral. So, when people view her art, they won’t have any prejudice against her for being a woman.

Daily Lobo: So what were you working on down in the ceramics studio?
Raven White: I made a piece that’s based on an 8,000-year-old piece that they found in Malta.

DL: How did you find that piece, and what prompted you to recreate it?
RW: I took a class at CNM that dealt with female artists and art, and I came across the piece that’s called the “Dreamer of Malta.” So when I got into this intro to ceramics class there was a project I could fit that into.

DL: There is lots of detail in the piece, and it seems like you worked hard on it. How long did it take you?
RW: It took about 36 hours. It’s called a modeling process, which means you make a piece and then you have to hollow it out so it doesn’t explode in the kiln. So you have to get it to a certain point of dryness so you can hollow it out. And then you still don’t know if it’s going to explode. There were a lot of pieces that were attached to her to give it her round shape. I like her cheekbones. And I added those for detail and her nose for detail and the snake that wraps around her head and goes down her back.

DL: Tell me about the pieces you’ve created that you don’t like.
RW: Usually those are the required things because they involve no creativity. It’s just what the teacher wants.

DL: What’s your strategy to help you get past that?
RW: I just try and put as much creativity within the boundaries that they give you into it, so that you can keep your interests in it.

DL: Is that your final project for the class?
RW: No, we had our final project done two weeks ago.

DL: What did you do?
RW: I did tile pieces that will eventually go into a mural tile of pieces that will probably go in a wall piece.

DL: Like something at your house?
RW: Yeah. They’re of different things. One has a woman that’s emerging from the clay. And then there is a lot of things that allude to the vulva. Everyone says I’m a Judy Chicago incarnate, even though that’s not my intent, and it just happens to be a form that comes naturally to me to make. But, oh well. Deal with it.