#Kah’p’oo Owinge

[brooklynmuseum]

Pick one of the figures in this sculpture and do your best to take on their position. How does it feel to be in this position? When have you been in a similar position?

This sculpture incorporates many figures, each with their own distinct expression and position. The largest figure, a woman wearing a Pueblo dress, sits with her legs straight out, her hands resting on her knees, and her shoulders rolled forward a little. Her head is level, but she raises her eyes upwards, towards the vessel balanced on her head. This vessel is a traditional ceramic of the Kah’p’oo Owinge (Santa Clara Pueblo), the Tewa pueblo to which the artist Roxanne Swentzell belongs. Climbing out of this black pot are two much smaller figures. One leans on the rim, looking off in one direction, while the other figure’s head just barely begins to emerge from within the vessel. Below, standing on the shoulder of the woman with a hand resting on her forehead for support, is a standing figure, reaching up towards the two emerging from the vessel. Resting in the crook of the woman’s right arm, is the final figure: while all the other tiny figures are wide-eyed and engaged in their various activities, this figure on the woman’s lap is lounging, turning a contented face upwards as though basking in the sun.

How would you describe the expression of the woman? Is she tired, fatigued by the energy of these small figures? Is she amused and content? Is it something else? Whenever I return to her face, I find a new shade of emotion as she experiences the commotion of the many figures crawling over her. I imagine her holding her breath and watching the vessel wobble as the figures crawl out of it.

The iconography—that of a larger figure with many smaller figures crawling all over—has become a common motif in Pueblo ceramics; it is known as a storyteller figure. The first was created by Ko-Tyit (Chochiti) Pueblo artist Helen Cordero, who made it in the 1960s to honor her grandfather, a renowned storyteller. Swentzell, too, thinks about communication between generations. She has said, “We are the mothers of the next generation and the daughters of the last. Male or female...in the Pueblo world, we are 'Mothers' (nurturers) of the generations to come in a world that supports life. It is always good to remember…to nurture life, for it is our work now as it was for our parents and ancestors that came before us and it will become the work of our children.” The very clay the Swentzell uses is a reminder of this as well; she uses locally sourced clay, thus tying it to the land of New Mexico itself. She says, “To have human figures made of clay is in itself part of the theme. We are all from this Mother, all from this Earth: made of her and will return to her... I love the perspective of understanding that we all come from the Earth.” What might it mean to work for life for future generations? How does art become part of that work?

Swentzell also plays with this storyteller imagery in this sculpture, linking the idea of communication from one generation to the next with the act of creating artwork for sale. Swentzell is a renowned sculptor, and her work has been honored at the prestigious Santa Fe Indian Market. Initially, she never considered selling her work. Instead she sees sculptures as an extension of her ability to communicate, like pages in a diary. Now that she does sell her work, she often explores the relationship between Indigenous identity, Indigenous art, and commodification. This particular work is known as Making Babies for Indian Market, a reference to the annual Santa Fe Indian Market. How does the title relate to what we see in the sculpture? What might Swentzell be suggesting about the relationship between creating art and selling it?

How do art, identity, and commodification intersect? What do the implications of these intersections and relationships have for future generations? In what ways are future generations a consideration in your own life or work?

Posted by Christina Marinelli Roxanne Swentzell (Kah'p'oo Owinge (Santa Clara Pueblo), born 1962). Making Babies for Indian Market, 2004. Clay, pigment. Brooklyn Museum, Gift in memory of Helen Thomas Kennedy, 2004.80. © artist or artist's estate

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