Art & Life with Lauren Raine

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Raine.

Lauren, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.

“Myth comes alive as it enters the cauldron of evolution,
drawing energy from the storytellers who shape it.”

Elizabeth Fuller, The Independent Eye Theatre

Although I paint and sculpt, my primary focus is the mask, the human face. I’ve always seen masks as “vessels for our stories”, and derived inspiration from world mythology. When I went to Bali in the 90’s to study temple mask traditions, I was privileged to produce collaborative masks with Balinese mask makers while there. In 1999, I created 35 “Masks of the Goddess” based upon a world-wide heritage of mythologies about the “feminine face” of Deity. As I did my research, I found myself in a grand conversation that grew and grew as dancers, storytellers, and communities used the masks, filling them new contemporary meaning. I’ve been privileged to have many Colleagues, and the Collection traveled throughout the U.S. for almost 20 years. In 2015 the collection was performed at the Parliament of World Religions. (https://www.masksofthegoddess.com)

By exploring myth, we can activate ancient taproots that sustain us into the future. For me art process is often a spiritual practice, as well as a way to engage community. Because I live in the Southwest, I’ve been inspired by the presence of the Pueblo and Navajo Creatrix myth of the “Spider Woman”. This ubiquitous archetype is found throughout the Americas. and has important meaning for our time. We are all united in the great Web of being. In 2007 I was awarded a fellowship with the Alden Dow Creativity Center at Northwood University to develop “Hands of the Spider Woman” as well as a grant from the Puffin Foundation, and in 2009 I further developed the project as resident artist at the Henry Luce III Center for the Arts in Washington, D.C. The weaving continues. (http://www.laurenraine.com/spider-woman.html)

Currently I find myself making Shrines and Icons, using clay and mosaic, and my most recent work is a collection of “Madonnas’” I call “Our Lady of the Shards”, because the figures rise from the shards, debris, and dust of the buried past, arising now to inform and bless us once again. (http://www.laurenraine.com/madonnas-for-our-time.html). Because of my interest in clay now I work with the Tucson Clay Co-op, and teach a class in clay sculpture there in the winters.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
The poet Muriel Rukeyser famously said that “The world is made of stories, not atoms”. I believe it’s vital for artists to remember that we are the myth makers for our time, and it is important to consider what stories, myths, we are telling. We are gifted with a great heritage of myth that, like the roots of a tree, underlay our experiences of “telling the world”, both individually and culturally.

So virtually all of my work is Iconic, and derives from a visual (and written) language of mythology I have encountered and internalized. And that “mythos” almost always, for me, returns to our Mother Earth, and to the stories and archetypes of the “Great Mother” throughout history. Because those stories, whether spoken, written, or visual, communicate a great deal about ancient and yet very contemporary ways to live on our beautiful world. So, I think my work is always looking back, or underneath, trying to bring forward the “faces among the shards and roots” in order to let them speak their important messages for today’s world.

What would you recommend to an artist new to the city, or to art, in terms of meeting and connecting with other artists and creatives?
I think it is very difficult now, because so many cities have been losing their arts districts due to gentrification, which is a loss to artists and the greater community, although Phoenix is doing a good job to keep its districts vital and lively! It’s important to find opportunities to connect “in the flesh”, to share work, ideas, and feedback at salons or informal gatherings, rather than just depending on the internet for exposure to other artists. Get together and form your own “salon”…….. and don’t forget to have a dinner together as well! A lot of support can come from that!

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
I will be having a show of my “Our Lady of the Shards” mosaic Icons in January at the Tucson Clay Co-op in Tucson, Arizona. The opening will be Friday Jan 11th from 4 to 8pm, and I’ll be giving a talk as well as a poetry reading followed by a reception. Otherwise, my work can be viewed at my websites: www.laurenraine.com and www.masksofthegoddess.com.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.laurenraine.com
• Phone: (520) 609-4904
• Email: laurenraine9@gmail.com
• Other: www.threadsofspiderwoman.blogspot.com

Image Credit:
Lauren Raine MFA

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