Date/Time
Date(s) - 10/23/2020
All Day
Categories
The Checkerboard Design on Pueblo Pottery, Old and New
A Continuous Show, online and in the gallery
See the Checkerboard Pueblo Pottery >>
I have long been drawn to checkerboard designs on pueblo pottery. My love does not stem from an academic interest and I have no new and exciting theories to present on the history of the checkerboard design or its origin or meanings. I have been told by potters that meanings could vary based on how bold or how small the checkerboards are or to their placement on potteries. The checkerboards could represent seeds or corn. They could represent fertile farm fields or the Milky Way; or night and day. Or there could be meanings that are not appropriate for non-native people to know or meanings lost in history. To me one of the great joys of pueblo pottery design is the unknowing, the mysteries. And so, my love for the design is unknowable to me too; it’s visceral; I just enjoy it.
So when some old, small Acoma tourist jars (as well as one historic Acoma utilitarian water jar) came into my possession this year, I decided to ask just a few of my potters if they’d like to make pottery for the show. I received an enthusiastic response.
So this is a small show focused on Acoma, San Ildefonso and Zia pottery. Those include old pottery as I’ve mentioned and some wonderful new works from San Ildefonso potter Erik Fender, Elizabeth Medina of Zia Pueblo, Franklin Peters of Acoma Pueblo, Dominique Toya of Jemez Pueblo, and Albert Alvidrez from Ysleta Del Sur. Some pieces may show up well after the show opens, but that’s ok; this design has been around for a long time.
