About the Stations of the Raven

This work celebrates the raven in a series of linocuts inspired by traditions of old illumination.
The twelve images in The Stations of the Raven describes raven behaviors such as guarding the nest, caching and courtship. The borders of the individual cuts are inspired by a diverse source of illumination including medieval English and Byzantine, Celtic and Persian manuscripts.

Most of my artwork is built out of curiosity. Answering a question, carving out another one.
Ravens make food caches, but what do they do with the other things they steal? Being followed by a group of ravens on top of my favorite hiking mountain, witnessing a display of affection between a pair of ravens, watching ravens and wolves interact...such sightings invariably lead to questions like: How many sounds can they make?, Can I spell those sounds?, Why do they flip over when they fly?, Why do they wipe their beaks?!! The questions led to the research which resulted in the Stations of the Raven.

The title and format of the series was influenced by the religious stations of the cross. I have seen these stations carved in big chunks of marble, carved in wood...whatever the medium they tell a progressive story and are often visited in sequence for prayer or meditation. I have long wanted to use this iconography as a vehicle for telling another story. In using religious symbols in a new way, I hope to continue the questions with: What is sacred? Who decides what is sacred? These questions I leave unanswered.

Click on an image to enlarge and read a story about the raven behavior illustrated.

Linocuts in this series are printed on 100% cotton rag paper. Each art work is hand-pulled by the artist in her Ketchikan studio. For more information on her process visit Evon's bio page.

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