Spotlight: Kathleen Wall

Hi everyone! The artist of the day is Kathleen Wall, from the Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico. Growing up, Wall was surrounded by people creating pottery and from a young age she created clay figurines of Storytellers. There is a Pueblo artistic tradition of making figurines called Storytellers, which are basically clay humans or animals with open mouths surrounded by babies and/or baby animals, who crawl all over the Storytellers or lay in their arms, etc. Here is an example:

Storyteller by PLM Quintana of the Cochiti Pueblo, New Mexico. So sweet!!

Soon, Wall was making “koshare clowns” figurines out of hand-coiled and lovingly sanded and glazed clay. The koshare, or pueblo clowns, are jesters with specific roles that belong to different societies, and they are an important part of Pueblo culture.

A depiction of a Pueblo koshare clown. (I must admit I may not have a thing for clowns, European or Pueblo!)

Pueblo clowns are generally personification of spirits, except for the koshare. The clowns live outside of the rules and social norms of every day life. Wall’s beautiful, silly, proud and joyful clowns are so irresistible that I just had to write about them today!

Koshare Clown

A koshare with watermelons.

“Kicking Back”. This is my favourite piece!

This is a lovely sculpture by Roxanne Swentzell, to give you an idea of other types of contemporary representations of the koshare clowns!

Wall not only makes koshare clowns, but also beautiful sculptures of women with headdresses (called tablitas), or holding clay pots on their heads:

A lovely sculpture of a Pueblo woman with a headdress and holding corn.

Wall’s artistic process is wonderful because it is that of the artisan and is one that pays homage to her heritage. Wall goes out to hack clay from the ground and then sifts and mixes it, a process that takes days. It is amazing to see the work go from a pile of dusty, crumbly clay to a fragile, tall and wonderful glazed sculpture!

Another gorgeous sculpture!

Wall works with pottery, but also bronze, and is not afraid of using contemporary mediums and subject matter alongside the traditional. She certainly has a winning formula, and travels across the U.S. to different art markets. Here are a few more works by Kathleen Wall, and I hope you find them as delightful as I do! Here is a link to Kathleen Wall’s website. Be sure to check it out, especially the “The Process” page!

“Clowning Around”, bronze.

Thanks for reading and, as always, please post if you have any comments or questions!

Cheers,

Stephanie