Raven Halfmoon facts for kids

Raven Halfmoon is a talented artist born in 1991. She is a member of the Caddo Nation and is famous for creating very large sculptures made from clay. She is both a painter and a sculptor.

About Raven Halfmoon

Raven Halfmoon is part of the Caddo Nation. She grew up in Binger and Norman, Oklahoma. When she was thirteen, she learned how to work with clay. A Caddo artist named Jeri Redcorn was a big influence on her.

Raven went to the University of Arkansas. She earned two bachelor's degrees there. One was in cultural anthropology, which is the study of human cultures. The other was in ceramics and painting. In 2021, she finished a two-year program at the Archie Bray Foundation. This foundation is a special place for ceramic artists.

Her First Big Art Show

In 2021, Raven had her first solo art show. It was called Okla Homma to Manahatta. The show took place in New York City. She created the artworks during her time at the Bray Foundation. The title of the show has a special meaning. "Okla Homma" is a Choctaw phrase for the Caddo Nation. "Manahatta" is a Lenape word for Manhattan. The show featured ten huge sculptures. Some of these pieces weighed over 450 pounds and stood 6 feet tall!

How Raven Creates Art

Raven Halfmoon focuses on sculpting. She uses her Caddo ancestry in her artwork. She likes to bring back old Caddo pottery traditions.

Making Big Clay Pieces

When Raven was in college, she had access to a large kiln. A kiln is a special oven used to bake clay. This allowed her to experiment with making very big art pieces. She often uses a method called the "coil method." This is where you stack coils (like long ropes) of clay on top of each other. This helps her build tall and wide sculptures.

Some of Raven's Artworks

Raven's sculptures often show her culture. She uses her art to share stories and ideas about the Caddo Nation.

Bah'hatteno Nut'tehsi (Red River Girl in Caddo), 2021

This sculpture is about 53 inches tall. It shows two women's heads facing outwards. The sculpture is dark with white on top of the heads. There are two red marks dripping down the faces. Raven wants her art to show the Caddo Nation in a new way. She wants to challenge old stereotypes about her culture. This sculpture is in the Ross + Kramer gallery in New York.

Natural Hands, Natural Rider, 2020

This clay sculpture shows a woman riding a horse. Raven created this piece to break away from old, romantic ideas about her culture. She wanted to show the strength of Caddo women. She often uses the color red in her art. For Native American cultures, red can represent missing Indigenous women. This sculpture is about 45 inches tall. It is also located in the Ross + Kramer gallery in New York.

I'm A Covergirl Type Of Girl, 2017

While many of Raven's artworks connect to her culture, this one has a more modern feel. It still uses traditional pottery techniques. She used the same stacking method to create this large piece. The sculpture is made of dark black stoneware. Red glaze was used on top, making it look like lipstick. It is about 26 inches tall. This artwork is in the Kourri + Corrao Gallery in New Mexico.

Art Shows and Exhibitions

Raven Halfmoon's art has been shown in many places. Here are some of the exhibitions where her work has been featured:

• Ancestors - Newmark Gallery (2022)
• HASINAI (Caddo) : Our People - Tinworks Art (2021)
• Okla Homma to Manahatta - Ross+Kramer (2021)
• The New Native - Nino Mier Gallery (2019)

Solo Exhibitions

These are shows where only Raven's art was displayed:

• Flags of our mother | Ridgefield, Connecticut, USA | June 25, 2023 - January 07, 2024
• Sunsets in the west | Santa Monica, California, USA | March 25, 2023 - April 22, 2023
• Raven Halfmoon: The New Native | Los Angeles, California, USA | September 14, 2019 - October 26, 2019
• Raven Halfmoon: Okla Homma To Manhatta | Chelsea, New York, USA | January 08, 2021 - February 14, 2021
• Raven Halfmoon: Caddo Girl in a Material World | Miami, Florida, USA | November 07, 2020 - December 05, 2020
• ONLINE: Raven Halfmoon: Rumination in Isolation | Lexington, Massachusetts, USA | May 21, 2020
• Raven Halfmoon: New Monuments | Missoula, Montana, USA | August 02, 2022 - December 31, 2022
• Raven Halfmoon | Ghent, New York, USA | March 19, 2022 - June 12, 2022

Group Exhibitions

These are shows where Raven's art was shown alongside other artists' work:

• Bates College, Museum of Art | Lewiston, Maine, USA | October 27, 2023 - March 04, 2024
• Indian Theater: Native Performance, Art, and Self-Determination since 1969 | Annadale on Hudson, New York, USA | June 24, 2023 - November 26, 2023
• Ceramic Group Show: Ghost | Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA | August 04, 2023 - September 09, 2023
• American Woman | New York, USA | January 16, 2020 - March 07, 2020
• Burke Prize 2019 | Midtown, New York, USA | October 03, 2019 - April 12, 2020
• 100 Years 100 Women | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA | August 18, 2020 - September 27, 2020
• LIMBO act II | Antwerp, Belgium | October 17, 2020 - November 15, 2020
• The Body, The Object, The Other | Park La Brea, Los Angeles, California, USA | January 25, 2020 - January 10, 2021
• Figure 9 | West Town, Chicago, Illinois, USA | April 16, 2021 - May 29, 2021
• Pollen On A West Wind | Upper East Side, New York, USA | February 09, 2023 - March 25, 2023
• In the Middle of Everywhere | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada | June 04, 2022 - February 26, 2023
• You Are Heleswv (Medicine) | Atlanta, Georgia, USA | June 11, 2022 - September 04, 2022
• Light Up The Sky | Los Angeles, California, USA | July 09, 2022 - August 13, 2022
• Separate/Together | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | January 22, 2022 - February 26, 2022
• Clay Pop | Soho, New York, USA | September 10, 2021 - October 30, 2021
• ArtNow 2021 | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA | July 29, 2021 - September 13, 2021