NM08 - Native Art — Paying Homage

Entranced by the impossibly fine lines on the Acoma seed pot I’m purchasing, I can’t believe they were painted by hand using a single-strand yucca brush. The black, needle-like lines vibrate against the white, eggshell-thin pot, just like the rain they represent.

“I couldn’t do this if I had another lifetime to learn,” I tell the artist.

“That’s OK,” she smiles. “It took a lot of lifetimes to learn how to do that.”

The world-renowned skill of New Mexico’s Native artists has indeed been perfected through many lifetimes of work, with one generation passing techniques, experience and spirit on to the next. Be it pottery, jewelry, weavings, flutes, painting, music or sculpture, art is life to Native America; always present and always honoring their ancestors and their world.

While these art forms are rooted in centuries of tradition and skill, today’s artists are honoring their past while exploring their creativity, ensuring that Native art and culture is living and growing. Artists such as Santa Clara potter Tammy Garcia pay homage to past greats such as San Ildefonso’s Maria Martinez while exploring new boundaries, such as her exciting glass pottery.

Among the many arts created by Native artists, New Mexico is probably best known for its tradition of pottery and weaving. Pots begin with the potter digging clay at their favorite location, often kept secret and passed down through families. When enough clay is gathered, the potter returns home and kneads it into balls, then rolls it into finger-thick ropes. Many times a puki, or hollowed-out half of a gourd, is used to help form the bottom of the pot. The clay is coiled, smoothed by a favorite rock or gourd piece as the potter builds. The thickness of the pot’s wall must be kept just right, as does the pot’s balance. The clay must be free of any debris, cracks, or air bubbles, which will explode the pot when it is fired and destroy many hours of work. There are several basic styles of pots, among them: The dough bowl is a traditional, large mouth pot that was used for mixing and kneading bread; the seed pot is almost completely round and has a very small hole at the top, used to store and protect planting seeds from rodents; the popular wedding vase is very difficult to make and has two spouts connected with a handle, used to represent the bride and groom.

Once the shape is formed, the potter paints a slip and design with plant-based pigments, or carefully carves designs. The bottom is signed. Around the mouth often a spirit line is painted, never fully connecting to allow the pot’s spirit to enter and leave. The thin-clay slip is polished with a favorite stone, often one that has been passed down by an elder. The slip will change color depending on the temperature of the fire and the amount of oxygen the potter allows to reach the pot while firing.

For the firing, the pots are protected with metal scraps, and wood is stacked around them. Sometimes horse manure is used as fuel, especially when little oxygen is desired to create black pottery. The potter carefully regulates the length and intensity of the fire, skills learned from grandmothers and experience. If all goes well, the pots are taken from the ashes and art is born.

The amount of skill, patience, talent, and time that go into a true piece of Pueblo pottery is reflected in the price of the pot. Some pots that are sold are molded in a factory, then painted by a skilled Pueblo artist. While these are still valid works of art, their price should be much less than a handmade pot. The dealer should state up front that they are not hand coiled. Always ask before purchasing to make sure you’re not paying too much.

Weaving is primarily associated with the Navajo, or Dine. Once nomadic bands of people, the Dine were captured by the U.S. Army in 1864 and held in camps at Bosque Redondo in southern New Mexico before being allowed back to their traditional lands in the Four Corners. (The march to Bosque Redondo is called the Long Walk, during which many Dine perished.) They were given sheep in an effort to move the Dine from a subsistence way of life to one that was agriculturally based. The incredibly resilient Dine soon became master weavers and silversmiths, hammering silver coins into intricate pieces of art. Although not initially their chosen way of life, sheep became important for the Dine for food, clothing, and as a source of income. After the last frost in the spring, Churro sheep are shorn, their wool cleaned, carded, spun, dyed, and painstakingly woven on wooden looms into almost-perfect pieces of art. Almost perfect, as the Dine understand the concept of perfection in imperfection (similar to the Japanese philosophy of Wabi Sabi) and purposely weave in a tiny “mistake,” often only noticeable to the weaver.

Weaving designs are often based on region where they developed, such as Two Grey Hills, and are valued based on size and quality. In the past weavers would trade their art at trading posts for goods or store credit. The traders would then sell the weaving for cash. Because of the amount of time and skill it takes to make a large weaving and with increasing modernization, in the past few decades weaving had become smaller. Mark Winter, seeing a decline in the size and quality of weavings as older generations passed, began the Historic Toadlena Trading Post & Museum. Housed in an old stone building deep on the Navajo Reservation, the trading post looks like a snap shot from the 1940s; canned goods line shelves, period posters hang on the walls, weaving supplies are sold and locals meet to get their mail and talk. But toward the back of the store is a huge bank vault. Beyond this door is a museum that at once seems out of place, yet perfectly placed. Exquisite examples of weaving are hung on display, along with bios about the weavers and their family lineage. Through his and others efforts, winter has brought attention to the fine art of Navajo weaving and created an outlet and market for these artists.

Another place to view and buy weavings, and to meet the artists, is at the Crownpoint Rug Auction. Once a month in a school gym in remote Crownpoint, weavings are put up for bid, bringing in anywhere from $15 for small, student works to thousands for master weavings from across the Navajo Nation. You may view and handle weavings before the auction begins, and the education alone is worth the drive.

Of course quality, certified weavings are found in galleries in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Taos, and Gallup. Staff will be more than happy to point out what makes a quality weaving and answer questions. Even some convenience stores near the Reservation, today’s answer to trading posts, sell excellent weavings from local artists. And trading posts with centuries of history can still be found in Gallup, Farmington, Ship Rock, and other communities.

Purchasing Native-made art is perhaps the best way to remember your visit to New Mexico, and at the same time support and encourage the cultures that make our state a place like no other. You’ll be benefiting generations of artists here, while being able to pass a quality piece of art down through yours.

Steve Larese is editor of GuestLife New Mexico.