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Tafoya, Jennifer & Chris Youngblood – “11 Hammerheads” Jar with Hammerhead Sharks
4.5"w x 6"h
$ 7,700.00
This is a spectacular collaborative piece by Christopher Youngblood and Jennifer Tafoya. Chris made and carved the jar. The piece has 11 hammerhead sharks as the design. Ok, so why “spectacular”. It’s not just the carving of the 11 sharks, but look at the composition and how they swirl around the surface. It’s as if they are in motion, and there is also a bit of a feel of the swirling ribs of a melon bowl. Then each shark was etched by Jennifer. What is equally creative is how she creates the optical illusion that we are really looking down at the sharks. She has the color and the dorsal fins just perfect in proportion and shadow. It’s piece like this reflect the creativity of these to potters working in tandem. The rim and base are also carved with waves and slipped with mica. The piece was traditionally fired black. Definitely a strong piece of their pottery. It is signed “Chris Youngblood” and “Jennifer Tafoya”.
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Description
This is a spectacular collaborative piece by Christopher Youngblood and Jennifer Tafoya. Chris made and carved the jar. The piece has 11 hammerhead sharks as the design. Ok, so why “spectacular”. It’s not just the carving of the 11 sharks, but look at the composition and how they swirl around the surface. It’s as if they are in motion, and there is also a bit of a feel of the swirling ribs of a melon bowl. Then each shark was etched by Jennifer. What is equally creative is how she creates the optical illusion that we are really looking down at the sharks. She has the color and the dorsal fins just perfect in proportion and shadow. It’s piece like this reflect the creativity of these to potters working in tandem. The rim and base are also carved with waves and slipped with mica. The piece was traditionally fired black. Definitely a strong piece of their pottery. It is signed “Chris Youngblood” and “Jennifer Tafoya”.
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Tafoya, Jennifer (b. 1977)
Jennifer Tafoya
Jennifer Tafoya is the daughter of Ray and Emily Tafoya. The use of realism in their imagery has revitalized the style of sgraffito pottery originated by Joseph Lonewolf in the 1970s. Jennifer has won numerous awards for her pottery and is featured in books such as "Talking with the Clay," "Crafted to Perfection," and "Breaking the Mold." Jennifer has also been featured in recent magazine articles in "Native Peoples Magazine" and "Southwest Art Magazine" and won "Best of Pottery" for a collaborative jar at the 2013 Heard Indian Market Guild. She has continued to be an award-winning potter at Santa Fe Indian Market's 'Best of Show 2023.' Jennifer uses the Native American traditional hand-coiled pottery methods, then shapes, polishes, and is traditionally fired before applying scraffito. She then paints natural ore colors and slips them into her designs. She collects and processes all of her pottery materials from natural sources.Youngblood, Christopher (b. 1989)
Chris Youngblood
Chris Youngblood is Margaret Tafoya's great-grandson and Nancy Youngblood's son. His mother, Nancy, taught him to make pottery. He won the "Best of Class - Youth Award" at Santa Fe Indian Market and the prestigious "Best of Pottery" in 2014. In the 2010 Native People's Magazine, he was featured as one of the "Generation Next Emerging Potters" and recently featured in Native Art Magazine in 2016 as one of the "Three Potters Under 30" to watch. In addition, his "Best of Pottery" jar was featured in the book "Spoken Through Clay."
Chris Youngblood says that he focuses on each piece, taking the time to work on the shape and stone polish the surface to a high shine, often polishing it several times to get it right. Chris comes to the clay focused on expanding his illustrious family's technical and artistic boundaries. His manipulation of the clay surface through his technically inspired imagery expands the art in new directions.