“The raven’s reputation as a trickster disguises its magical nature,” says Craig Kosak of "First Trick".

"Northwestern tribal lore teaches that man existed in the confines of a clamshell. After raven created land (see Kosak’s "First Land"), he again became bored and desired someone to play with. Knowing that man was in the shell, he used all his wiles and, finally, a special song to coax man out of the clamshell.

“Now, we all know that living in a shell is not very prosperous. And the bottom line is that we all need to come out of it sometime. The magic of raven’s trickery is that he uses it to fool us into bettering ourselves.”

In Kosak’s "First Trick", raven, perched atop a washed-pebble cairn, begins his song to lure man out into the world. As he sings to the clamshell atop the stack beside him, the power of his music levitates a distant stone.

"First Trick" is a feature work in Kosak’s first museum show at the Museum of the Southwest in Midland, TX.