Lawrence Namoki
"My Strength"
3 1/2"
H x 3" D
Lawrence Namoki was recently
profiled in a feature article in Southwest Art magazine - we're
excited to see this talented and innovative Hopi pottery artist
getting the recognition he deserves.
Lawrence has successfully
blended both traditional and contemporary techniques of pottery
making while illustrating themes of Hopi life through both ceremonial
symbolism and abstract Hopi designs.
Lawrence uses only clay native
to Hopi land, natural dyes for the painted surface of his works
and the traditional Hopi firing process using sheep dung. The
red color is iron oxide from the Grand Canyon. The greenish/blue
color is made from copper from Jerome. The white is pumice from
Flagstaff and the yellow is lamonite from Mesa/Verde. The brown
is iron ore mixed with mustard green plant and the black is mustard
green plant with more iron oxide.
Namoki, who grew up in the
village of Walpi, Ariz., graduated from Phoenix Indian High School
in Phoenix and served with the U.S. Army’s Special Forces
Division. Upon being discharged from the Army, he returned to
Arizona and began carving Kachina dolls. By the mid 1980s, he
switched his focus to pottery and made his debut as a professional
potter in 1985 at the Eight Northern Pueblos Arts & Crafts
Show in New Mexico.
Over the years, Namoki has
received many honors for his work, including capturing the Eight
Northern Pueblos Arts & Crafts Show’s “Governor’s
Award/ Best of Show” eight times. His pottery is on display
at the Smithsonian Institute and in numerous other museums, galleries
and private collections around the world, including the Arizona
State University and Oregon State University permanent collections,
the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos, N.M, and in the home of
one of the members of the Royal Family of England.
“The type of artwork
I do cannot be taught in any educational institute,” Namoki
says. “Only a true Hopi can do what I do, and he or she
must understand the Hopi culture and the life of a Hopi to do
artwork of this style.”