Autumn Borts
(Medlock)
Santa Clara
Parrot Effigy
6 1/4"
H x 7" W
We are delighted to present
the work of one of Santa Clara's most innovative potters - Autumn
Borts! Autumn is the daughter of Mary Cain, and sister to Tammy
Garcia.
Because Autumn does not normally
sell through galleries, this represents a unique opportunity
to acquire a piece by a widely aclaimed and highly sought after
Santa Clara potter. We feel especially honored to have this opportunity,
and we hope to show more of her work in the future.
The following excerpt was taken from
Native Peoples Magazine:
"'Pottery ties me to
an ancient tradition; it connects me to my ancestors. Knowing
that a thousand grandmothers did this before me is amazing, and
to have been born into this heritage is a gift.'
Autumn Borts has quietly arrived
at her place among the best of today's contemporary ceramicists.
Her unhurried but steady climb upward over the past ten years
has been marked by many successes, among them several important
commissions (including one from the Museum of Indian Arts and
Culture in Santa Fe), inclusion in a number of distinguished
museum and gallery exhibitions, and, most recently, acceptance
into Santa Fe Indian Market.
Like many Pueblo potters,
Borts learned her skill from watching her mother and grandmother
work with clay throughout her childhood. Though her first attempts
at shaping the clay were met with some difficulty, over time
Borts began to develop and refine her intrinsic talent. She fashioned
animal figurines and nativity sets and continued to work on fine-tuning
her technical skills, such as coiling, polishing and firing.
Clay preparation was of course an integral part of her education,
and Borts soon mastered that as well.
'All of this knowledge I hold
very dear to my heart, because it was passed down to me from
the women in my family. The clay gives me energy, and I'm grateful
to be part of this tradition.'
Much of Borts' work is inspired
by the shapes and design elements of traditional Santa Clara
pottery, and carved with motifs depicting various animals, birds,
insects, flowers, kiva steps, and elements of nature such as
water,clouds and stylized rain patterns.
Some vessels contain combinations
of these designs, strategically intertwined on the surfaces of
tall, cylindrical vases or very large round or square-shaped
jars.
'I love the old traditional
shapes and designs, but I also enjoy making more contemporary
pieces. To take something so old and form it into your own expression-to
take a traditional form and turn it into something contemporary-that's
so gratifying. It's a painstaking process to make pottery, but
when I see the finished pieces I start to get excited about what's
coming next, and I feel inspired to start working on something
new.'
'My mother shared her gift
of knowledge with me, the knowledge to make pottery. M y father
also shared his gift of knowledge with me, the knowledge to play
music. He wanted me to be a guitarist. That would have been pretty
cool, too, I suppose, but I guess the clay called louder.'"
See the entire article here