Writhing

Raven Arbuckle is an Indigenous 2 Spirit artist who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Raven has a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Illustration from the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. Raven’s description of Writhing: “This piece is based on the gestural movements of Butoh, a contemporary form of Japanese theatrical dance that emerged after the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The dance is a response to the immense grief of the Japanese experience as a result of the horrific actions of the United States government. Butoh dancers paint themselves white, like ash, and strip dance of its politeness and is disloyal to traditional aesthetic expectations. Characterized by slow contorted movements, each flowing into the next and pushing the body to strange limits of position. I grew up near the White Sands, where the first atomic weapons were tested. From the top of the mountain our house was on, you could look out into the basin and see the crystal sands glowing in the distance – somehow looking like fog and water at the same time. I would think of Japan often then, and this art form that emerged has become a beloved source of reference for expressive form and gesture. In this piece, the figure is entwined with the crawling roots of a tree, earth reaching up to connect with body, two becoming one again, both damaged in the bombing.”