AFA Winter 2019

Antiques & Fine Art 79 2019 high polish with sparkling micaceous clay. Only recently recognized for its beauty, micaceous clay was long used to make cooking pots, the minerals helping to dis- tribute heat and add durability. Known for vessels with stylized animal motifs and, sometimes, political commentary, Santa Clara Pueblo potter Jody Folwell (born 1942) pushe s ae st het ic and t hemat ic boundaries, as does her daughter Susan Folwell (born 1970) and nieces Roxanne Swentzell (born 1962) and Jody Naranjo (born 1969), a ll of whom extend and challenge traditions. Naranjo’s pots are made using traditional methods—digging clay, processing it, using coils to build forms, and pit firing—while her painted and carved decorations are decidedly contemporary. She is best known for her stylized “pueblo girls,” one ambitious vessel featuring one hundred and ninety-four of them, each holding a pot (Fig. 12). Swentzell, in turn, uses clay to make figurative sculpture, most often of women, the pieces ranging from humorous to poignantly introspective. The coarse clay used in Looking for Root Rot indicates that the piece was made while the artist was living in Hawaii. The figure’s expression suggests longing, and the title conveys the artist’s fear of losing her identity in a place so far from home (Fig. 13). Subsequent generations of Southwest potters will, no doubt, be equally innovative, contributing to and expanding upon the accomplishments of their families and, in some cases, establishing new dynasties of their own.  Pueblo Dynasties: Master Potters from Matriarchs to Contemporaries runs through January 5, 2020. For information, call 916.808.7000 or visit www.crockerart.org. Scott A. Shields, Ph.D. is associate director and chief curator at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, California. He is curator of Pueblo Dynasties . Fig. 12: Jody Naranjo (Santa Clara, born 1969), Large Square Jar with 194 Figures, 2003. Earthenware, 15½ x 10 in. Crocker Art Museum; Gift of Loren G. Lipson, M.D. (2016.97). Fig. 13: Roxanne Swentzell (Santa Clara, born 1962), Looking for Root Rot, 2004. Earthenware, 12 x 12¾ x 16¼ in. Crocker Art Museum; Gift of Loren G. Lipson, M.D. (2015.71.59).