Rain Scott is the son of jeweler Raynard Scott (Navajo) and a descendant of Marie Z. Chino of Acoma.  He says that growing up in Arizona, he wanted to learn to make pottery but didn’t have anyone to teach him.  In 2011, he began working with origami, the art of creating objects with folded paper.  From 2013 to 2018, he experimented with the art form and, in 2018, made his first vessel, an Acoma jar.  He calls his style “contemporary Indigenous origami.”  Each piece is made from thick paper and creates a corrugated texture.

This piece is entitled “Above and Below.”.  Rain says of this piece:

This piece is made from folded paper and natural Mediterranean coral. The coral represents the ocean or any body of water and the starburst design represents the heavens above.  Our ways are ancient and enduring. Time may bring change to our world and our people, but as long as the spirit of the Spider Woman lives in one heart, our traditions, our religion, and our art will live on forever. From the stars above to the deepest oceans.”

Rain used white 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of paper to make the design.  Each full sheet is folded to make each section! The jar has an elegant form with a high shoulder and elongated neck.  The jar has an elegant form with a round shoulder and elongated neck.  The jar has a lid with a piece of coral attached as the finial.  Rain keeps on innovating his art form with each new piece!  Believe it or not, thousands of pieces of paper were used to make this jar! The piece is signed on the bottom, “Rain Scott”.  There is a Third Place ribbon from the 2024 Eiteljorg Museum Show.  It’s exciting to have such innovative work in the gallery.  Most recently, Rain’s indigenous origami has been featured in First American Art magazine and Native Art Magazine. 

“I call my work contemporary origami pottery.  I came up with them as I wanted to learn to make traditional pottery.  I never had a teacher to show me how to get the clay or slips.  I was always creative with paper.  I started out with swans and then one day wanted to see how I could make a vase.  It took a lot of experimentation”.  Rain Scott