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4 | In This Issue
5 | Encounters in Place
6 | Preserving Culture
BY JOE MOLINARO AND RICHARD BURKETT
Molinaro and Burkett discuss the ceramic traditions of nine indigenous groups inhabiting the Ecuadorian Amazon, and how those traditions are adapting to the challenges of the twenty-first century.
14 | Side By Side
BY ANN SCHUNIOR
Schunior examines the continued cultural and utilitarian importance of clay vessels in Sirigu, Ghana, despite the increasing availability of useful plastics.
18 | The Maker’s Tag
BY COURTNEY LEONARD
Leonard contemplates academia’s limited definition of the indigenous potter, and the importance of allowing indigenous makers to define themselves within our ceramic vocabulary.
20 | Mata Ortiz Today
BY WALTER P. PARKS
Parks discusses the tremendous growth and success of local potters in Mata Ortiz, Mexico, following art historian Spencer MacCullum’s first meeting with self-taught artist, Juan Quezada.
24 | Encountering the Other
BY TERRY deBARDELABEN
deBardelaben reflects on how her global travel experiences and her realization that the concept of the “other” is a deeply layered and multi-faceted role, have informed her current teaching practices.
30 | Finding Source
BY ROSE BEAN SIMPSON
Simpson reflects on her upbringing amongst the potters of the American southwest, and how her graduate studies outside that world at the Rhode Island School of Design helped her answer the question, “Why clay?”
34 | Being Here
BY KATHERINE TAYLOR
Taylor discusses how she utilizes techniques learned from a variety of cultures to create sculptures inspired by her home in East Texas, and how those ideas intertwine to create pieces that show both her connection to her home and the journey she has taken to get there.
38 | Seeding the Continent
BY GERTRUDE GRAHAM SMITH
Smith reflects on how a generous and collaborative community of artists flourished around the Penland School of Crafts and became indigenous to the Southern Appalachian Mountains.
42 | A Chance of Birth
BY WINNIE OWENS-HART
Owens-Hart discusses her experience living with and learning from generous female potters in the village of Ipetumodu, Nigeria, and how her time there profoundly shaped her worldview and ceramic perspective.
50 | What About Redware?
BY STEVE EARP
Earp shares how he discovered the largely-forgotten American redware tradition, and why he committed his career to keeping the memory of this practice alive.
54 | Indigene / Inhabitant
BY DAVID McCLELLAND AND MEILING HOM
McClelland and Hom discuss the lives of two Korean artists, Lee Inchin and Kim Hyejeong, and how these artists define themselves as ceramicists according to all of the places they have experienced, in addition to the cultures they were born into.
58 | To Serve the Divine
BY ADAM POSNAK
Posnak explains the spiritual purpose of ceramic vessels and objects in two African and African-Pan-American religious-cultural systems, and how his participation in the making of these sacred pots has humbled and inspired him. Read More.
65 | Shards
A letter from Joe Molinaro.
66 | Translating Tradition
BY MELINDA BURRIS WILLMS
Willms discusses how different generations of the Owen family left their unique mark on the ceramics community in Seagrove, North Carolina, through the incorporation of Asian aesthetics and new glazing techniques.
74 | A Pot with Life
BY JACKIE SEATON
Seaton reflects on a service trip to Guatemala, and why a small, seemingly insignificant indigenous pot she acquired there is so important to her.
78 | Collaboration of the Heart
BY NORA E. VAILLANT
Vaillant discusses the ceramic works of Maricela Gomez and Manuel Reyes, and how their return to Oaxaca’s Mixteca Alta region in Mexico led them to thriving, collaborative ceramic careers.
84 | Readings
85 | Work, Play, and People
BY CRAIG HARTENBERGER
An interview with Dick Lehman, discussing his life, career, and how Lehman’s religious and cultural identity as a Mennonite informs the commitment to functionality that defines his work.