- Dorothy Torivio - Acoma Pottery
Dorothy began full-time potting in the mid-1970s. By the early
1980s, she was recognized as an accomplished Acoma potter. Today,
she is probably the most recognized contemporary Acoma potter. In
1998, she was one of several Native American, women potters featured
in an exhibit, "The Legacy of Generations: Pottery by American
Indian Women," organized by the National Museum of Women in the
Arts. This exhibition toured the United States for two years. She
again was featured in a book of the same name, which showed the
artists and their pieces in this exhibition. Dorothy was under the
banner of "The Avant Garde."
As a child, she recalls being fascinated by her mother's pottery
making, Mary Antonio Valley. This was her start, but she credits her
mother-in-law, Lolita Torivio Concho, with giving her artistic
direction. "My dad worked for the Santa Fe Railroad which runs next to
the northern border of the Acoma reservation. When I was a young girl,
he was transferred to California, where I went through school. During
the summers, my mother and I went back to the reservation. It was then,
as a teenager, that I started selling my mother's and grandmother's
pottery on the roadside of old Route 66. The money for the tourists help
sustain us."
"In the mid-seventies, I found myself a single mother with three
kids. I started selling my pottery on the portico of the Governor's
Palace on the Santa Fe square. Then, my pots were patterned with Mimbres
designs. One day, bored, I thought that I would try to develop a new,
unique design using geometric patterns that repeat over and over."
"I refined this idea, and now I create a geometric design, and then
repeat that design in a continuous circle or spiral, with the same
number of repetitions, regardless of the circumference of the piece I am
working. My patterns grow larger or smaller, according to the
circumference, but always with the same number of repetitions."
The very precise patterns can become exquisitely complex, which has
led some to believe she must use a computer, or some mathematical
engine; but no, the designs are all hand drawn and executed with a
traditional yucca brush, using traditional pigments. Her shapes are
often called vases, but she explains them as exaggerated seed bowls. She
is noted for executing pieces with very thin walls, enabled by the
strong local clay. Pick up one of her pieces and you'll notice how light
in weight they are. Her painting is also noted for it smooth, even
coloration.
PS: Dorothy is now exhibiting in the most exclusive Native American
art galleries, not the portico of the Governor's Palace.
From Canyon Art.com