|
Canku Ota |
|
(Many Paths) |
||
An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America |
||
July 14, 2001 - Issue 40 |
||
|
||
Tony Jojola-Glass Blower |
||
Tony Jojola (Isleta Pueblo) is one of only a handful Native American glass blowers. Born on the
Isleta Pueblo in New Mexico, Jojola began working as a potter at a young age. After enrolling at the Institute
of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, he was exposed to the art of glass blowing. Further training at the Haystack
Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine, led to a period of study at the Pilchuck Glass School in Seattle,
Washington, where he served as a studio assistant to Dale Chihuly, the acknowledged master of American glass art. "I rely on my Native American culture to create our old traditional and ceremonial forms such as seed jars, baskets and ollas in glass. Pueblo people have always created in clay." Last year Mr. Jojola opened a workshop, in Taos, N.M., where he teaches young people to express themselves in glass. He accepts all applicants who appear serious, but his main goal is to show Indians a path that few have considered. "I got thrown out of high school myself, so I know the problems these kids face," said Mr. Jojola (pronounced ho-HO-la) while a handful of his students blew glass through pipes or watched over their kilns. "Crafts were part of my family heritage, and I tried making pottery and jewelry. Nothing really grabbed me until I discovered glass. I knew right away that there was definitely something there. To me glass is a lot like clay, but it takes clay a step further. It's like clay you can't touch." Jojola's work is rooted in tradition though expressed in very modern terms. Out of love of the traditional forms Jojola uses the distinguishing elements of these vessels and intensifies them so that one can feel the presence of both the new and old. It is a beautiful union. Jojola relies on his Native American culture for inspiration. He uses traditional and ceremonial forms, ollas, seed jars and basket forms, "old forms that my culture has respected throughout time," as the basis for his contemporary blown glass vessels. |
|
Through
A Glass Brightly |
A Glass Act |
|
||
|
||
Canku Ota is a free Newsletter celebrating Native America, its traditions and accomplishments . We do not provide subscriber or visitor names to anyone. Some articles presented in Canku Ota may contain copyright material. We have received appropriate permissions for republishing any articles. Material appearing here is distributed without profit or monetary gain to those who have expressed an interest. This is in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107. | ||
Canku Ota is a copyright © 2000, 2001 of Vicki Lockard and Paul Barry. |
||
|
|
|
The "Canku Ota - A Newsletter Celebrating Native America" web site and its design is the |
||
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2001 of Paul C. Barry. |
||
All Rights Reserved. |