ARTIST STATEMENT
From 800 AD to the 1700's Caddo tribal pottery was an incredible and well-known tradition in the North American Southwest traded far and wide even to France and Spain. Knowledge of this great cultural history disappeared as the Caddo tribe consolidated and was decimated from conquistador’s diseases and colonialism. Our last Caddo potter, a matriarch of my tribal namesake, stopped making pottery around 1908 and our tradition was almost lost. Through my work I hope to bring that unsung ceramic legacy back to the light.
Most people don’t get to see our ancient pottery because most all of our ancestral pottery was used at the end of its life as a burial offering. In that way, most of these culturally sensitive pieces cannot be put on display for the public to see. The most important thing to me is to faithfully and respectfully capture the skillfulness and intricate details of our tradition in order to bring to the public’s admiration our specific tribe’s identity.
Because of that I found it important to use the same methods and materials my ancestors would have used with little compromise. Using these traditional methods by digging my own clay, hand gathering the mussel shell I put into the clay, hand building, burnishing with a rock, pit firing the unfired pottery in an open ground fire, and engraving the designs after the pot is fired is important to capture the soul and the essence of our ancestral style and identity.
However, I also feel very deeply that our tribe’s representation and communication through the design and creation of pottery would have evolved over time with the introduction of new situations and environments. For that reason, I also strive to present a new ceramic and sculptural interpretation from my own experiences and as my own artist but as an ambassador to my Caddo tribe and its ancient cultural identity.
AWARDS
BEST OF SHOW Cherokee Art Market, Tulsa, OK, 2019
BEST OF CLASS Cherokee Art Market, Tulsa, OK, 2019
Best of Division Cherokee Art Market, Tulsa, OK, 2019
1st Place Cultural: Pottery, SEASAM, Tishomingo, OK, 2019
1st Place Traditionial Woodlands Pottery, SWAIA Indian Market, Santa Fe, NM, 2019
Honorable Mention, Contemporary Pottery, SWAIA Indian Market, Santa Fe, NM, 2019
1st Place Traditionial Pottery, Red Earth, OKC, OK, 2019
2nd Place, Cultural:Pottery, Artesian Art Market, Sulphur, OK, 2019
2nd Place, Traditional Pottery, Cherokee Art Market, Tulsa, OK, 2018
1st Place Pottery, SEASAM, Tishomingo, OK, 2018
3rd Place, Pottery, SEASAM, Tishomingo, OK, 2018
2nd Place, Traditional Pottery, Eiteljorg Indian Market, Indianapolis, IN 2018
1st Place Traditional Pottery, Red Earth, OKC, OK, 2018
1st Place Contemporary Pottery, Red Earth, OKC, OK, 2018
1st Place Sculpture, Artesian Art Market, Sulphur, OK, 2018
3rd Place, Pottery, Trail of Tears, Tahlequah, OK, 2018
Anna Mitchell Award Pottery, Cherokee Art Market, Tulsa, OK, 2017
2nd Place, Pottery, SEASAM, Tishomingo, OK, 2017
Heritage Award Pottery, Cushing Native Festival, Cushing, OK, 2017
1st Place Pottery, Cushing Native Festival, Cushing, OK, 2017
2nd Place, Pottery, Cushing Native Festival, Cushing, OK, 2017
3rd Place, Pottery, Cushing Native Festival, Cushing, OK, 2017
1st Place Traditional Woodlands Pottery, SWAIA Santa Fe, NM, Indian Market, 2017
Honorable Mention, Clay Sculpture, SWAIA Santa Fe, NM, Indian Market, 2017
Best of Division All Pottery, Eiteljorg Indian Market, Indianapolis, IN 2017
1st Place, Traditional Pottery, Eiteljorg Indian Market, Indianapolis, IN 2017
1st Place, Contemporary Pottery, Eiteljorg Indian Market, Indianapolis, IN 2017
2nd Place, Traditional Pottery, Eiteljorg Indian Market, Indianapolis, IN 2017
2nd Place, Traditional Pottery, Red Earth, Oklahoma City, OK, 2017
Oklahoma Visual Arts Fellowship of Excellence 2017, OVAC, OKC, OK, 2017
1st Place, Pottery, Artesian Arts Festival, Sulphur, OK, 2017
1st Place, Pottery, Trail of Tears Art Show, Tahlequah, OK, 2017
BEST OF CLASS Over all Pottery, Cherokee Art Market, Catoosa, OK, 2016
2nd Place, Contemporary Pottery, Cherokee Art Market, Catoosa, OK, 2016
2nd Place, Traditional Pottery, SEASAM, Tishomingo, OK, 2016
BEST OF SHOW Traditional Pottery, Oklahoma Indian Summer, Bartlesville, OK, 2016
2nd Place, 3D, Oklahoma Indian Summer, Bartlesville, OK, 2016
2nd Place, Traditional Pottery, Eiteljorg Indian Market, 2016
Kathleen Everette Upshaw Award (grand award, 3rd over entire show),
Traditional Pottery, Red Earth, Oklahoma City, OK, 20163rd Place, Pottery, Artesian Arts Festival, Sulphur, OK, 2016
1st Place, Pottery, Trail of Tears Art Show, Tahlequah, OK, 2016
3rd Place, Pottery, Trail of Tears Art Show, Tahlequah, OK, 2016
Purchase Award, Permanent Collection, Mulvane Juried Ceramics Exhibition,
Washburn University, Topeka Kansas, 2016.2nd Place, Traditional Pottery, Cherokee Art Market, 2015
3rd Place, Cultural: Basketry, SEASAM, 2015
2nd Place, Contemporary Pottery, Cherokee National Holiday Show, 2015
Honorable Mention, Contemporary Pottery, Cherokee National Holiday Show, 2015
People's Choice, Best Artist of Ada Fest, 2015
Honorable Mention, Contemporary Pottery, SWAIA Indian Market 2015
Best of 3D, Cahokia Mounds Contemporary Art Show, 2015
1st Place, Traditional Pottery, Red Earth Annual Art Market, 2015
Best of Category, 1st Place, Pottery, Trail of Tears Art Show, 2015
1st Place, Pottery, Te Ata Fisher Chickasaw Nation Employee Art Show, 2014
2nd Place, Pottery, Te Ata Fisher Chickasaw Nation Employee Art Show, 2014
Best of Division, Traditional Pottery. Cherokee Art Market 2014
Best of Division, Cultural, Pottery. SEASAM 2014
BEST OF SHOW, Red Earth Annual Art Market, 2014
1st Place, Pottery, Te Ata Fisher Chickasaw Art Show, 2013
Best of Class (Best over all pottery divisions), Pottery. Cherokee Art Market, 2013
3rdPlace, Contemporary Pottery. Cherokee Art Market, 2013.
1st Place, Pottery. SEASAM, 2013
1st Place, Traditional Woodlands Pottery. Santa Fe, Indian Market, 2013
2nd Place, Traditional Pottery. Red Earth Annual Art Market 2013.
1st Place, Pottery, Te Ata Fisher Chickasaw Art Show 2012.
2nd Place, Pottery, Te Ata Fisher Chickasaw Art Show 2012.
2nd Place, Pottery. SEASAM 2012
1st Place, Traditional Woodlands Pottery. Santa Fe, Indian Market, 2012
Kathleen Everett Upshaw Award (3rd over entire show),
Traditional Pottery. Red Earth 26nd Annual Art Market 20123rd Place, Contemporary Pottery. Red Earth 26nd Annual Art Market 2012
1st Place, Miniature Pottery. SEASAM 2011
2nd Place, Pottery. SEASAM 2011
3rd Place, Contemporary Pottery. Red Earth Silver Anniversary Art Market 2011.
2nd Place, Pottery. SEASAM 2010
3rd Place, Open-3D. SEASAM 2010
GALLERIES
King Galleries, 130 Lincoln Ave suite d, Santa Fe, NM 87501
King Galleries, 7077 E Main St, Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Pottery of the Southwest, 223 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, NM, 2017
Ellsworth Gallery Santa Fe, NM, 2017
The Corridor at Paseo Oklahoma City, OK. 2017
Caddo Mounds State Historic Site Alto, TX, 2017
Philbrook Museum Shop Tulsa, OK. 2016
The Dancing Rabbit Gallery Texas, 2016
Tribes 131 Gallery. Norman, OK
Jacobson House Gallery, Norman
Red Earth Gallery, Oklahoma City
Cahokia Mounds Gift Shop. Cahokia Mounds, E St. Louis, Illinois.
The Red Road Gallery, Ada
50 Penn Place Gallery, Oklahoma City