Mata Ortiz Pottery

The seductive geometry of the ceramics from Mata Ortiz –a small village in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico– represents the most intriguing creative phenomena in Mexican folk art. It burst into the cultural scene with a force that can only be attributed to its great beauty. But the recent development and the fact that it transformed the economic activity of an entire community in less than three decades are also surprising.

This art form was born out of the explicit desire of one man, JUAN QUEZADA, whose curiosity as a 12 year old boy, took him into a cave he discovered while gathering firewood in the hills near his home village Mata Ortiz.

Inside that cave he was struck by the beauty of a couple of pre-Hispanic ceramic pot shards he found -ancient vessels known locally as ollas pintas or mottled pots– His thoughts became occupied by a perplexing question: how had this ancient culture managed to create such beauty in that barren environment? He took this mystery as a personal challenge: he had to create something of equal beauty. And then he embarked in an adventure: the long and arduous process of learning the craft of pottery without anyone to guide him in his technical experiments. Starting from the simple assumption that the antique pots must have been made from local materials, he began a period of creative experimentation that took him almost twenty years and eventually resulted in a complete process for the creation of polychrome painted ceramics. What had begun as a hobby became his life’s prime focus and later the pivotal activity in his entire village.

The Paquime or Casas Grandes culture flourished between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries in northern Mexico. The pottery fragments from that ancient people were the source of inspiration for Juan Quezada, but his work and the work of all the pottery artists from Mata Ortiz has not been a copy of the old pots, it is an original artistic expression with its own mystic spirit and power.

INTRODUCTION TO THE ART WORLD
One day in 1976, when Spencer MacCallum, an anthropologist and art historian, got into a junk store in Deming, New Mexico, he found three pots different from any pot he had ever seen, surprised he asked the store owner about the pots but everything he knew was that the pots came from northern Mexico. Intrigued, he bought the pots and returned to California. He put the pots in a shelf but his gaze was constantly drawn to them. Somewhere in northern Mexico there was an extraordinary artist and potter and MacCallum finally decided he wanted to find this artist.

Accompanied by his mother and a friend, he returned to New Mexico to cross the border and began his search, he questioned everyone he met, showing them photos of the pots. Eventually he reached the city of Nuevo Casas Grandes and was directed to the village of Mata Ortiz and Juan Quezada’s adobe house, MacCallum found the artist of those pots he was surprised and intrigued with and began a working relation that lasted for almost eight years.

Art Historians often trace successful movements to certain defining moments that lifted the art form to new aesthetic heights or exposed it to new levels of public awareness, this such moment for the potters of Mata Ortiz was Spencer MacCallum discovery of Juan Quezada pots. When MacCallum first arrived to Mata Ortiz there were less than ten villagers who devoted themselves to pottery making in part time.

MacCallum encouraged Juan Quezada and together, the two motivated other potters to perfect their skills. Convinced that pottery afforded the opportunity to improve their situation, increasing numbers began to learn the craft. Thirty years later, more than 300 potters support their families by making the Mata Ortiz pottery and has become the dominant occupation in the village.

Through exhibitions in museums and art galleries in Mexico, United States, Japan and Europe, the Mata Ortiz pottery has capture international attention as a fine art expression.

MATA ORTIZ –A COLONY OF ARTISTS-
How was it possible for a society of railroad workers, farmers, cowboys, woodcutters and homemakers to become a colony of sophisticated artists in such a short time? The people of Mata Ortiz never considered them self as artists and as such, had nothing to prove to outsiders. They had no reputation to uphold but they did have time, patience, curiosity and willingness to work hard and learn. Their first sales inspired them to continue the slow process of becoming proficient at building and painting the pots and in short time, of becoming artists. It is no surprise therefore that the wildfire of creativity which began with Juan Quezada’s first pots in the early 1970’s spread to a second generation of potters that came of age in the middle of the 1980’s and the beginnings of the 1990’s. That same wildfire is even now engulfing a third generation, with no end in sight.

PROCESS TO MAKE THE MATA ORTIZ POTTERY
CONSTRUCTION - potters begin by rolling out a thin clay slab or tortilla and press it into a plaster mold to shape and support the bottom, then they pinch a clay chorizo (sausage) to and around the tortilla, by repeatedly pinching the pot between thumb and fingers, they force the clay upward to form the walls of the pot and the desired shape, for a large pot, potters may add a second roll on top of the first, as they form the pot, they refine the shape, smooth and compress the clay by scraping it with the back of a hacksaw blade or a similar tool.

SANDING AND POLISHING - the potters sand the dry pots using first 100 and then finer 200 grit sandpaper. They coat the pot liberally with oil and then lightly with water before polishing with a smooth stone or deer bone to complete its preparation for painting.

PIGMENTS - made entirely from minerals and clays gathered from the local hills. Juan Quezada considers the most challenging part of his entire ceramic technology to have been the development of his paints.

PAINTING - the fine line work is created by applying the pigments with a brush five to seven centimeters long, made from ten to twenty strands of human hair. Before begin painting, the artists divide their design fields into two, three, four or more equal parts by making marks on the lip and bottom of the pot, then they paint the design outlines freehand. The spaces are filled in with a shorter, thicker brush and finally retrace the outline to sharpen de edges of the design. The technical perfection of their painting and the complexity of the designs place the Mata Ortiz potters among the world’s foremost ceramic painters.

FIRING - this is the last step in the process, they fire the pots singly or in small groups on the ground covered by an inverted clay pot which protects the pots from rapid or uneven rises in heat that can affect the colors. Cow manure has always been the fuel of choice in Mata Ortiz, but in the past years cottonwood bark has been the best option, the bark burns cleaner than manure and is therefore better for white pots.