Hosted by King Galleries in Scottsdale, Arizona, Horizons 2025 brings together a group of leading Native American potters for an annual show that opens a few days before the Heard Musem Guild Indian Fair & Market in Phoenix, one of the largest Indigenous markets in the world. The gallery exhibition will feature new works by 10 emerging and established artists including Al Qöyawayma, Les Namingha, Tammy Garcia, Jared Tso, Daniel Begay, Autumn Borts-Medlock, Robert Patricio, Joseph Lugo, Sergio Lugo, Dolores Curran and others.

Tammy Garcia (Santa Clara), Shadows on the Mountain, native clay

 

“Innovative shapes and designs using native clay are the foundation for the show this year,” explains gallerist Charles S. King. “Each artist expands our understanding of how Native art continues to evolve and change. The show includes today’s leading potters as well as younger potters beginning their careers. It should be an exciting opportunity to view the creativity, innovation and future in the best in Native pottery.”

Les Namingha (Hopi-Tewa/Zuni), Bird Maze, native clay, acrylic.

 

Tammy Garica (Santa Clara Pueblo) has been making pottery since the 1980s and is exclusively represented by King Galleries. With a style that is constantly evolving, her new pottery has delicately carved and etched designs with new design elements. “I hand-build my pottery using native clay of Santa Clara Pueblo,” says Garcia. “My mother, Linda Cain, and grandma, Mary Cain, were my mentors since I was a young girl. They showed me where to harvest clay and how to process it with volcanic material.

Al Qöyawayma (Hopi), Mesa Verde, native clay

 

“I’m inspired by natural surroundings, plants and animals when designing. There is meaning and purpose in what they symbolize,” continues Garcia, adding that coiling a form can take weeks and months to strengthen before it’s ready to design and carve. She prepares the surface by refining the shape using a flat wooden tool. Then she carves in stages and layers, removing clay to create a background. “There’s smooth and textured areas,” she explains. “This all creates dimension. It requires patience to be a potter because more refined work and sanding is needed once the pottery has dried. The shiny surface is stone polished using clay slip. I’m able to combine traditional methods with modern techniques because of the skills my mother and grandma shared with me.”

Jared Tso (Diné), water jar, native clay

 

Multimedia artist Jeff Suina (Cochiti) is also represented exclusively by the gallery. “It is his first time showing during our Heard Market Show and his innovative shapes are an exciting variation in pueblo art,” says King. Suina grew up in Cochiti Pueblo and comes from a long line of potters and painters. As a child, he started learning his craft by watching his mother create storytellers and nativity sets. His interests quickly shifted to astronomy and science fiction as the clear, starry skies on the reservation and Star Wars stoked his young imagination. It wasn’t until adulthood that he returned to working with clay and reviving the knowledge he learned decades earlier. He honed his abilities with traditional shapes but soon found his interstellar interests and 3D modeling skills emerging in his work. His pieces have been called architectural and futuristic, and have received acclaim in the Native American art world. He was awarded first place for his piece Lio’ at the 2023 Santa Fe Indian Market. His goals as an artist are to express his ideas, continue the legacy of his grandmothers, and pass on what he has learned to the next generation of Native artists.

Jeff Suina (Cochiti), Lightning, native clay

 

The young potter Jared Tso (Diné) has won the prestigious Tony Da Innovation Award at Santa Fe Indian Market twice. Tso is a fourth-generation Diné potter and a grandson of the famous Navajo potter Faye Tso. Each piece he builds is coil-built, burnished and traditionally fired. Not only is he a potter, but he also has a degree in electrical engineering and a master’s degree in ceramics. He won the Tony Da Innovation Award at the 2022 Santa Fe Indian Market and Best of Pottery at the Heard Indian Fair & Market in 2023. “He has made larger works for this show with exceptional firings and forms,” notes King.

Daniel Begay (Santa Clara/Diné), Heartline Bears, native clay.

 

Don’t miss this show on February 27 and the reception from 5 to 9 p.m. at King Galleries, to get in the spirit for the Heard Indian Fair & Market, which runs March 1 and 2 in nearby Phoenix. —

King Galleries
February 27-March 6, 2025
7077 E. Main Street, Suite 20, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 (480) 481-0187, www.kinggalleries.com

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