“Reverent curiosity” is the term Cassie Normandy White borrows from teacher and indigenous seedkeeper Rowen White to describe the depths she seeks in living, working and simply being. From watching ants crawling in a tulip bulb as a child to staging seeds in the light of a microscope in her more recent works, White maintains a playful intrigue in the living beings that inhabit our world.
“What I’ve come to learn is [curiosity] is a form of nurturing the heart,” she said, waxing on the nature of her philosophy. “That idea is very unacademic, but it’s become increasingly central to who I am as a person and, by virtue of that, my work.”
Steeping herself in the research of other processes has proven a helpful path of discovery for White. An introduction to printmaking her first semester in college enticed her into unknown territory with endless potential.
“[Printmaking] was this totally unfamiliar medium, which fascinated me because there was so much to learn,” she shared. “It felt like you could spend an entire lifetime just learning these different processes. I was really interested in non-traditional printmaking processes.”
Much of White’s early work used fabric, monotype printing, which can still be seen in more recent collections, though her work has expanded across mediums and displayed the versatility of her techniques. White’s body of work captures an aspect of play in the craft, as well as a desire to stretch the capabilities of the materials in use. While her collage and printing works lend themselves to spontaneity and experimentation—cutting out shapes and fitting them together like a sort of puzzle—White said drawing can be more measured, though her process overall remains intuitive.
Whether broadening the idea of what intelligence and cognition are, such as in her “Resting Vessels” body of work, or tapping into the “aliveness of the more-than-human” experience in “We live through time”—a collaboration with her husband, artist and fellow Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC) educator Ryan O’Malley—White’s constantly unfurling sense for external discovery and self-inquiry typically leads her to the next piece.
“I was thinking about taking this phrase and imagining it from different perspectives, as it relates to other ideas I’m interested in: the beingness of non-human life, our interconnectedness with the natural world,” White said of the “We live through time” series. “Spiritual practice has become an increasingly stronger part of my life. All of that is about the heart and self-inquiry. [‘We live through time’] was a convergence of those different forms of inquiries.”
White is a familiar and warm presence in both the academic and cultural spheres of the arts scene in the Coastal Bend. Many seasoned artists own her work, have collaborated in curating and showing art alongside her or have sat as students early in their craft in her drawing and design classes at TAMU-CC since 2018.
Thinking back to her first memorable exposure to the arts scene in Corpus Christi, she recalled the time when, before they were married, her husband constructed a Viking ship; took it from the House of Rock down to the beach; and set it on fire in a sort of Norse funeral ceremony. The seemingly lawless energy and freedom to cultivate creative spaces in the community instantly drew her in.
“[When I moved to Corpus,] I loved the celebratory nature of the culture here; getting together and making things happen,” White said, “and how supportive folks are of one another. People are interested in collaborating, as well as young people sticking around and recognizing this is a special place.”
Now an established, working artist and educator, White not only focuses on what she can impart to students at the beginning of their careers, but also opens her mind to the impact they may have on hers.
“I remember when I was in school, one of my teachers was like, ‘You just need to show up. You just need to devote as much time as you can, not necessarily working every day, but tend to your creative practice consistently.’ I try to pass that on to my students,” she said. “But it’s certainly reciprocal. There are times when a student’s excitement about a drawing will energize me.”
It’s that exact mindset that has allowed White to not only show up for herself in her own career, but leave a mark on the next generation of creatives.
