Mata Ortiz Pottery
Mata Ortiz pottery is becoming recognized around the world
as some of the best of its class. It comes from a unique art colony located in a
small village of northern Mexico of the same name. It is located about 20 miles
from the ancient native Mexican village of Pacquime, which is adjacent to the
modern town of Casas Grandes. Pacquime residents left town about 500 years ago
but their skills in pottery inspired the new art of Mata Ortiz.
Juan Quezada is considered by most authorities to be the
spark to create the Mata Ortiz pottery and to teach a whole village of pottery
artists. From a self-taught beginning about 1970, Juan has trained or inspired
to the art several hundred of his family, friends, and neighbors. To walk
through the village of Mata Ortiz is to wander through an expanding art gallery
and workshop of inspired artists.
Pottery takes shape in family kitchens and gets fired in
crude kilns in backyards. Styles evolve and change as creative genius is
released. Yet this pottery is all uniquely recognizable as Mata Ortiz.
Local clays and mineral paints are found and mixed by each
potter. All pots are hand formed without a potter's wheel. The walls are very
thin and light as a feather. Some potteries will mix several colors of clay
together to give the pot a marbleized look known as mezclado - a very
striking effect.
Unique designs personal to each artist explode into the vast
variety of pottery you will see in our gallery, so do not look for a "pueblo"
identity. While you may see some mimbres designs included, they do not
carry religious symbolism as in our Southwestern tribal art. We learned to
recognize the Mata Ortiz pottery as a reflection of the artist's special culture
as a meztizo of Mexico.
Shaping and painting of the pots, known as "ollas" (o-yas)
is often a shared creative effort by husband and wife or other partners. It is
not unusual for one artist to build the pot and another to do the painting.
While both artists may sign, it is most common for only the painter to sign the
work. The painting is done with a fine handmade brush formed of human hair -
most often of a child.
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