The Mimbres Region Arts Council, in partnership with Western Institute for Lifelong Learning (WILL) and WNMU, is pleased to feature potter Romaine Begay in the second lecture of the 2014-2015 Artist Lecture Series on Thursday, November 6 at 6:30 pm at WNMU Parotti Hall.
Born and raised in Farmington with traditional Navajo culture, Romaine has always had his hands in art. He is Navajo known as Towering House, born into the Zuni Clan. He discovered his true medium of clay at Western New Mexico University where he also developed his unique process.
His work is a union of traditional Navajo designs and storytelling through contemporary clay techniques. His unusual stoneware work uses red and white stoneware and he mixes his glazes from the raw form. His glaze designs are inspired by Navajo rugs made by his grandmother Lydia Mason. His multi-step firing process takes over 20 hours.
His glaze designs have been heavily influenced from the Navajo rug weavings, which is practiced in his family, and from the traditional stories of the Navajo people. The drawings depicted on some wall plates are representative of the shamans and traditional Navajos of the next millennium. Begay’s forms are influenced by traditional Native American and contemporary pottery. He works under the business name Nizhoni Pottery, nizhoni is a Navajo word meaning beautiful, fine, and good, all in one.
The lecture is free and open to the public.
For more information contact the MRAC offices at 1201 Pope Street in Silver City, call 575-538-2505, or visit us online at www.mimbresarts.org.
