Kevin Stevens shares thoughts on the Maricopa Pottery tradition.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Don’t have Flash(TM)? Click here for the MP3 file
Through April 2012, Pueblo Grande Museum is showcasing the exhibit, “All Good Clay Smells Like Rain: The Art and Artistry of Maricopa Pottery” features the work of a young master, 24 year old Kevin Stevens. Exhibit Curator Holly Young says that “Kevin is a study in contrasts: he is a young male potter practicing a very old art form, one that used to be almost exclusively the purview of women. Kevin’s designs are airy and light, placed on vessels made from the earth itself.”
Additional Audio: Potter Kevin Stevens remembers his teachers.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Don’t have Flash(TM)? Click here for the MP3 file
Visit the Heard Museum site here
Kevin is also a talented traditional singer- check out this video!
[iframe width=”420″ height=”315″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/qSb5U-bZE6E” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen]
You can also click here to see the video on YouTube
To see more of Kevin’s work, visit http://www.pueblograndestore.com/ProductDetail.cfm?ItemID=80218
YOU ARE GOING TO BE SSOOOOOOOO FAMOUS! I have GOT to get to Phoenix and visit with you and get some of your work!!! Congratulations. Oh yes – and you sound soooo smart,which of course I always knew.
Copied from facebook: Nice to hear the Piposh are continuing this tradition. I myself am a potter and among a tribe of 30,000 tribal members there are only a handful of us. I work with traditional and contemporary clay bodies and Kevin is so right, pottery making is a lotta work and the success rate can be up to 60% in my experience. Gathering the clay, pounding it, adding the sand and then wedging it in preparation for pottery making, a LOT of work. When I have taught others people get frustrated because often they cannot “get it” right away and then the frustration increase when pieces don’t survive. Kudos to this young man. Here are some commercial clay pieces followed by more traditional & contemporary vessels. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.179345872092925.44962.100000525399732&type=3 https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.135590216468491.20431.100000525399732&type=3
So proud of you Kevin, and what you speak of is so true. I for one am guilty of it but I’m thankful that you have the heart to carry our tradition on forward in the best manner you know how of your teachings. I would truly love to pick up where I once remember seeing my grandmother do. Take care and stay blessed 🙂
Who’s THAT in the councilman blazer?! haha!! jk jk… Great job Kevin. Congrats on the honor! 🙂
Awesome piece, glad to see someone is viging some arch-focus in this science basics event! I wanted to add in that pottery that has some residue of food stuffs once stored or served inside it also provide us with a useful insight on what peoples of the past consumed. One such example is chocolate, it was found people consumed this cured and dried pulp many thousands of years ago by chemically analyzing the residues left on the inside walls. For archaeology, the science of reconstructing past lives, pottery offers us a very intimate view of cusines and foods of the past.