Jacob Koopee
Fourth World
10 ½"D
x 4½"H
Jacob Koopee was born March
31, 1970. He is the great-great grandson of Nampeyo; great-grandson
of Nellie Nampeyo Douma; grandson of Marie Koopee, and the son
of Jacob Koopee, Sr. (Tewa) and Georgia Dewakuku Koopee.
In 1996, at the age of 26,
Jake was awarded Best of Show, Committee's Choice, Best Traditional
Pottery, at the Museum of Northern Arizona. He has successfully
participated in and won awards at many Markets since then.
Jacob appears in several major
publications on Hopi pottery including Hopi-Tewa Pottery:
500 Artist Biographies by Gregory Schaff (p. 59), and The
Art of the Hopi by Jerry and Lois Jacka (pp. 118, 126).
He loves to base his work
on old Sikyaki designs. Jake reports, "My Aunt Dextra (Quotskuyva)
inspired me." Jake is a young man with extraordinary talent.
He creates some of the largest hand coiled / open fired pieces
of pottery at Hopi.
This piece has a wonderful
red-orange tone that has been achieved through natural, sheep-dung,
outdoor firing. Jacob's work is always traditional in technique,
but usually abstract or contemporary designs - such as this piece.
The most recognizable design
element has to be the oval patterns that appear on all four "walls"
of the pot. They have been stylized like the "bat wing"
design, which Nampeyo was well known for, and include subtle
abstract decorative features, such as the unique shade in coloration
he has achieved here. The two shades appear to be a light brown
and a pinkish-mauve color.
The way he has elaborated
on the design is really quite striking. His use of straight lines
in conjunction with curves and circles gives this piece a lot
of visual appeal. The center is a contemporary emergence design,
with all lines leading up to the opening of the pot.
He has signed with his hallmark
Kokopelli and last name Koopee. And in true Koopee fashion, he
has added another element of surprise by placing what he calls
a "parrot" mark on the underneath.
Jacob is proud of his adherence
to traditional methods which always produce a one-of-a-kind pottery,
with its own unique character and finish. In Hopi culture, nothing
is ever "perfect," and that's just the way he wants
it.
