Al Qöyawayma
Encyclopedia
Alfred H. Qöyawayma is a Hopi
potter
and bronze sculptor
. He was born in Los Angeles
on February 26, 1938. Qöyawayma is also a mechanical engineer who has worked in the development of inertial guidance systems
. He is a graduate of California Polytechnic State University
in San Luis Obispo, California
. He has a master's degree in engineering from the University of Southern California
.
His work incorporates "crosscultural elements" and a "minimalist" style. Many of his pots include representations of maize
, which is a sacred part of Hopi religion
. "For the people of the mesas corn is sustenance, ceremonial object, prayer offering, symbol, and sentient being unto itself. Corn is the Mother in the truest sense that people take in the corn and the corn becomes their flesh, as mother milk becomes the flesh of the child."
Qöyawayma finds the clay and processes it himself. He uses a spiral coiling technique, and fires his pots at a "very high temperature" which "results in vitrification of the clay which creates a smooth and polished surface." He uses coal
to produce these high temperatures, which is a technique long used by his Coyote clan of the Hopi.
Qöyawayma learned traditional Hopi ceramics and legends from his aunt Polingyasi Elizabeth Qöyawayma (Elizabth Q. White). She is the author of a book published in 1977 called No Turning Back: A Hopi Woman's Struggle to Live in Two Worlds in which she wrote: "Evaluate the best there is in your own culture and hang onto it, for it will be foremost in our life; but do not fail to take the best from other cultures to blend with what you already have. Don't set limitations on yourself"
Pottery expert Lee M. Cohen has written that "Nothing quite like Al Qoyawayma's pottery has ever existed before, though his work could not possibly assume its sublime form without the artist's profound appreciation for the ways of his Hopi ancestors."
In 2002, astronaut John Herrington
, a member of the Chickasaw
tribe, took one of Qöyawayma's ceramic pots into orbit aboard Space Shuttle
mission STS-113
, which docked with the International Space Station
. That pot, described as a "miniature Sikyatki-style seed jar with corn motif" is now in the collection of the National Museum of the American Indian
. Qöyawayma received a Fulbright fellowship to assist the Maori people of New Zealand
rebuild their tradition of ceramic pottery making. He has consulted with the Smithsonian Institution
on ancient Sikyátki
ceramics.
Hopi
The Hopi are a federally recognized tribe of indigenous Native American people, who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. The Hopi area according to the 2000 census has a population of 6,946 people. Their Hopi language is one of the 30 of the Uto-Aztecan language...
potter
Native American pottery
Native American pottery is an art form with at least a 7500-year history in the Americas. Pottery is fired ceramics with clay as a component. Ceramics are used for utilitarian cooking vessels, serving and storage vessels, pipes, funerary urns, censers, musical instruments, ceremonial items, masks,...
and bronze sculptor
Bronze sculpture
Bronze is the most popular metal for cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply a "bronze".Common bronze alloys have the unusual and desirable property of expanding slightly just before they set, thus filling the finest details of a mold. Then, as the bronze cools, it...
. He was born in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
on February 26, 1938. Qöyawayma is also a mechanical engineer who has worked in the development of inertial guidance systems
Inertial navigation system
An inertial navigation system is a navigation aid that uses a computer, motion sensors and rotation sensors to continuously calculate via dead reckoning the position, orientation, and velocity of a moving object without the need for external references...
. He is a graduate of California Polytechnic State University
California Polytechnic State University
California Polytechnic State University, or Cal Poly, is a public university located in San Luis Obispo, California, United States. The university is one of two polytechnic campuses in the 23-member California State University system....
in San Luis Obispo, California
San Luis Obispo, California
San Luis Obispo is a city in California, located roughly midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the Central Coast. Founded in 1772 by Spanish Fr. Junipero Serra, San Luis Obispo is one of California’s oldest communities...
. He has a master's degree in engineering from the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
.
His work incorporates "crosscultural elements" and a "minimalist" style. Many of his pots include representations of maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
, which is a sacred part of Hopi religion
Hopi mythology
The Hopi maintain a complex religious and mythological tradition stretching back over centuries. However, it is difficult to definitively state what all Hopis as a group believe. Like the oral traditions of many other societies, Hopi mythology is not always told consistently and each Hopi mesa, or...
. "For the people of the mesas corn is sustenance, ceremonial object, prayer offering, symbol, and sentient being unto itself. Corn is the Mother in the truest sense that people take in the corn and the corn becomes their flesh, as mother milk becomes the flesh of the child."
Qöyawayma finds the clay and processes it himself. He uses a spiral coiling technique, and fires his pots at a "very high temperature" which "results in vitrification of the clay which creates a smooth and polished surface." He uses coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
to produce these high temperatures, which is a technique long used by his Coyote clan of the Hopi.
Qöyawayma learned traditional Hopi ceramics and legends from his aunt Polingyasi Elizabeth Qöyawayma (Elizabth Q. White). She is the author of a book published in 1977 called No Turning Back: A Hopi Woman's Struggle to Live in Two Worlds in which she wrote: "Evaluate the best there is in your own culture and hang onto it, for it will be foremost in our life; but do not fail to take the best from other cultures to blend with what you already have. Don't set limitations on yourself"
Pottery expert Lee M. Cohen has written that "Nothing quite like Al Qoyawayma's pottery has ever existed before, though his work could not possibly assume its sublime form without the artist's profound appreciation for the ways of his Hopi ancestors."
In 2002, astronaut John Herrington
John Herrington
John Bennett Herrington is an American business executive, former US Navy officer and former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of one Space Shuttle mission. He is the first enrolled member of a Native American tribe to fly in space....
, a member of the Chickasaw
Chickasaw
The Chickasaw are Native American people originally from the region that would become the Southeastern United States...
tribe, took one of Qöyawayma's ceramic pots into orbit aboard Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
mission STS-113
STS-113
STS-113 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station flown by Space Shuttle Endeavour. During the 14-day mission in late 2002, Endeavour and its crew extended the ISS backbone with the P1 truss and exchanged the Expedition 5 and Expedition 6 crews aboard the station...
, which docked with the International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
. That pot, described as a "miniature Sikyatki-style seed jar with corn motif" is now in the collection of the National Museum of the American Indian
National Museum of the American Indian
The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum operated under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution that is dedicated to the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of the native Americans of the Western Hemisphere...
. Qöyawayma received a Fulbright fellowship to assist the Maori people of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
rebuild their tradition of ceramic pottery making. He has consulted with the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
on ancient Sikyátki
Sikyátki
Sikyátki is an archeological site and former Hopi village spanning 40,000 to 60,000 square metres on the eastern side of First Mesa, in what is now Navajo County in the U.S. state of Arizona. It was inhabited by Kokop clan of the Hopi from the 14th to the 17th century. Jesse Walter Fewkes led a...
ceramics.
Exhibitions
- Night of the First Americans, Kennedy Center, Washington, DC, 1982
- First Showing of Contemporary American Indian Art, National Museum of Natural HistoryNational Museum of Natural HistoryThe National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. Admission is free and the museum is open 364 days a year....
, Washington, DC, 1982–83
- Al Qoyawayma: A Retrospective, Taylor Museum at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts CenterColorado Springs Fine Arts CenterThe Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center is an arts center located just north of downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado. Located on the same city block are the American Numismatic Association and part of the campus of Colorado College....
, Colorado Springs, 1985
- Head, Heart and Hands: Native American Craft Traditions in a Contemporary World, American Craft Museum, New York, 1999
- The Road to Aztlan Austin Museum of ArtAustin Museum of ArtThe Austin Museum of Art is Austin, Texas's primary community art museum, since it was established in 1961 as Laguna Gloria Art Museum. The museums roots date to 1943, when Clara Driscoll donated her 1916 lakeside estate in west Austin to be used "as a museum to bring pleasure in the appreciation...
, Austin, Texas, 2001
- Jewels of the Southwest, Museum of Indian Arts and CultureMuseum of Indian Arts and CultureThe Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology is a museum of Native American art and culture located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is one of eight museums in the state operated by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and is accredited by the American Association of Museums...
, Santa Fe, 2002
- Changing Hands New Mexico Museum of ArtNew Mexico Museum of ArtThe New Mexico Museum of Art , the oldest art museum in the state of New Mexico, is one of four state-run museums in Santa Fe...
, Santa Fe, 2003
- Inaugural Opening, National Museum of the American IndianNational Museum of the American IndianThe National Museum of the American Indian is a museum operated under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution that is dedicated to the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of the native Americans of the Western Hemisphere...
, Washington, DC, "Space Pot", 2004
- HOME: Native People of the Southwest, Heard MuseumHeard MuseumThe Heard Museum of Native Cultures and Art is a museum located in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. There is also the Heard Museum North Scottsdale branch in Scottsdale and the Heard Museum West branch in Surprise....
, 2005
- Gift of the Gods: Exploring Maize, Culture and Indigenous Art in the Americas, Hearst Gallery, St. Mary's College of California, Moraga, CaliforniaMoraga, CaliforniaMoraga is a suburban incorporated town located in Contra Costa County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is named in honor of Joaquin Moraga, whose grandfather was José Joaquin Moraga, second in command to Juan Bautista de Anza...
, 2011