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An artistic revolution has taken place in a tiny remote town in Chihuahua,
Mexico. In the village of Mata Ortiz, an ancient pottery tradition from the
forgotten city of Paquimi has been reborn, transforming it into the home of
one of the foremost expressions of Mexican ceramics. The self-taught master
potter Juan Quezada, inspired by ancient potsherds he found as a boy,
created a contemporary artwork that parallels the art of indigenous
ceramists to the north, the Hopi, Zuni, Acoma Indians and others. Quezada
began experimenting in the early 1970's, with clay, trying to replicate the
ancient art form on the pots of the Paquimi culture. He rediscovered old
clay sources in his hometown and reinvented mineral based pigments,
resurrecting in the process an entire artistic tradition.
Mata Ortiz pots are hand built without the use of a potter's wheel.
Coils are made entirely by hand and are shaped, polished and painted -
often with brushes made from children's hair. The preferred fuel for the low
temperature firing is grass-fed cow manure or split wood. Though these
characteristics hark back to the ancient pottery traditions of the region,
Mata Ortiz pieces incorporate elements of contemporary design and
decoration. Together with his extended family, neighbors, and an increasing
number of young clay workers from surrounding areas, Quezada continues at
the forefront of this exciting artistic movement that has also offered the
community much needed income.
These amazing creations have crossed the borders of Mexico. Mata Ortiz
pieces have been on exhibit in such prestigious museums as the Field Museum
of Natural History in Chicago, the American Museum of Ceramic Art in
California, the Museum of Man in San Diego and the Museum of Pedeoples and
Cultures at the Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
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on picture for details
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