King Galleries is celebrating 28 years in business with a special show timed with the opening of the 2024 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market. Aptly titled 28 x 28, the exhibition features 14 gallery artists who have each been asked to make two pieces for the show, adding up to a total of 28 pieces.
Jared Tso (Diné), Water Jar, native clay
“Over the years we have worked with many of today’s leading potters as well as watching younger potters begin their careers,” says King Galleries owner Charles S. King. “The artists who are participating range from Al Qöyawayma, Les Namingha and Tammy Garcia to Sergio Lugo, Jared Tso and Daniel Begay. It should be an exciting moment to view the creativity of the best in Native pottery!”
Garcia’s Dragonflies and Flowers was hand-built using the traditional pueblo coil method. “Each coil and where it’s placed will determine the shape,” she says. The vase features a bold dragonfly with a floral brooch, carved with a precision screwdriver into the center of the vessel. “[My grandmother] showed me where to find clay and how to process it…I think of [her] often. It was her fearless courage that has shaped my perseverance with clay,” says Garcia.
Tammy Garcia (Santa Clara), Dragonflies and Flowers, canteen, native clay“My Hopi heritage and clay allows me to form many diverse inspiring shapes,” says Qöyawayma. “In turn, the shapes help inspire appropriate polychrome images based on our deep, ancient pre-history. So much history, [and] very exciting!” Qöyawayma describes his process for his lidded polychrome box, which will be in the exhibition: “The triangular curves in this piece allowed me to form a three sided piece [plus a lid], often referred to as ‘The Box,’ a nickname often used as a reference— I guess as in a jewelry box. There are no flat surfaces in this piece, reflecting our beautiful, curved, weathered sandstone canyons. I also used carved, curved designs to complement the shape. A frontal view of the box reminds one of the prow of a ship making waves. The rear panel encompasses a newer personal architectural style representing our early homes, replicating the beautiful sandstone construction with rich, shadow surfaces. Overall the natural Hopi clays provide the base for the stone-polished polychrome surfaces.”
Al Qöyawayma (Hopi), polychrome box and serenity jar
Chris Youngblood (Santa Clara) and Jennifer Tafoya (Santa Clara), Kreative Koi, native clay
The latest group of pots Tso will be showcasing further the artist’s exploration of the concept of lines. “The lines I am considering are silhouette, the swirl polish that is created from the stone and the decorative coil work that creates the vessel’s necklace,” he says. “All of the lines interact and intersect to influence the volume and character of a pot. This is also present in my corrugated work, which has different sections of the pot where coils overlap and intersect. It is an opportunity to continue to make great pots and finetune some of the ideas I have been working on this past year.”
Les Namingha (Hopi-Tewa/Zuni), Reconstructed Jar, native clay
Steve Lucas (Hopi-Tewa), Sikyati Grasshoppers, native clay
Other artists featured in the show include Chris Youngblood, Jennifer Tafoya, Steve Lucas and more. 28 x 28 opens at King Galleries’ Scottsdale, Arizona, location on Thursday, February 29, with a reception from 5 to 9 p.m.
King Galleries
Opens February 29, 2024
7077 E. Main Street, Suite #20,
Scottsdale, AZ 85251, (480) 481-0187
www.kinggalleries.com
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