Maria Martinez Making Pottery. Copyright © 1995-2001, The Denver Public Library, Western History Collection. |
Maria Martinez is one of the most famous artists of the Southwest.
She and her husband, Julian, revived an ancient pottery tradition at San
Ildefonso Pueblo
in the early years of the 20th century. They were inspired by pottery
found in the excavation of an ancient site. Upon seeing the ancient designs,
Maria began to make pots and Julian painted them.
Out of the silences of meditation come purity and power which
eventually become apparent in our art: the many spirits which enter about us, in us, are
transformed within us, moving from an endless past not gone, not dead, but with a threshold
that is the present. From this time sense, for this experience deep within, our forms are created.
-Maria Martinez |
