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8th Native American Fine Art Invitational
Excerpts from an interview conducted with Rick Rivet published in the 8th Native American Fine Art Invitational catalogue. Exhibition held at the Heard Museum; Native Cultures & Art, 2002.
- Q: What has been the biggest influence on your painting?
- A: I guess it goes back to my background - both the Native side of it and the European. I figure people have to acknowledge their background, their history. I was particularly interested in looking a the shamanistic elements of the Native background. I found that many cultures were shamanistic societies at one point in time. So I always come from that viewpoint.
- Q: Are you using the symbols you've adopted and utilized in direct reference to the cultures they come from, or are you borrowing them and then reinterpreting then into your personal iconography?
- A: I'd say it's more a reinterpretation of generalized symbols. For instance, the Road Map Series uses the Hopi symbol that comes from pictographs or petroglyphs - it's a symbol that the Hopi use for the idea of the soul journey. But it's also a symbol that you see in parts of Europe. In fact, world-wide there's a spiritual image that is exactly the same image. It's quite curious that such disparate places in the world would come up with virtually the exact same symbol.
- Q: Your paintings have a very loose approach to them. They're obviously very free flowing.
- A: I start out with the basic element of drawing. I usually start off with small sketches, just to get an idea of where I am going to go. Or sometimes I'll tie it right into the painting without worrying about it. So, a lot of my drawing is part of my painting. The ability to draw is something that should be developed; I think it's the basic part of developing our ideas.
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