It is exciting when we get in a large piece by Les Namigha that is this complicated in style and design.  This piece is intricately painted from rim to base.  The jar, “Migration of Time’, places Hopi-Tewa style birds over geometric forms.  The background geometrics shape of squares and lines seems to bend in contrast to the shape of the jar.  On one side, there are large yellow, blue, and red birds.  They are highlighted with traditional Hopi pottery designs.  Swirling through them is another bird that is painted with lines and dots creating a strong visual contrast in styles.  As the jar is turned there are vertical black-and-white lines that start a new sequence of Birds over bolder geometric shapes. There is a more classic bird near the base in red but note the green one with the overlaying “infinity” signs signifying the continuity of culture and designs.  Behind the birds are areas with lines and also Les’s earlier style of pointillism.  The more modernist and stylized birds then once again merge into the classic birds on the checkerboard background.  The concept of this jar is not just his “layering” but also the importance of continuity in Native art tied to the evolution of artistic style.  It is an elegant jar and also thought-provoking and inspiring.  There is a lot happening on the jar and yet it has a creative flow across the surface so that as it is turned, it is almost like having several pieces in one.  It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Les Namingha  2020”. 

Les says of his pieces which have layering:

“The concept of layering is inherent in our mortal journey. As time moves forward, our memories become layered. Some memories remain vibrant, others faint or hazy. Yet others, obscure or even hidden. Likewise, our experiences, words, works, emotions, prayers, and songs build up in layers creating our existence. In turn, our social interactions become exercises in layering. We see this in evidence with street art or graffiti writing where layers of thought and a desire to express a “proof of existence” create tapestries of color and marks. Blending, covering, harmonizing, dissonance, disappearing. This concept of layering is the idea behind Urban Polychrome and other works in the Urban Series.”  Les Namingha