Seed Pot with Geometric Design
by Dorothy Torivio (1946-2011), Acoma Pueblo
clay, pigment
2" high x 5" diameter
Dorothy Torivio was born at Acoma Pueblo on August 19, 1946. She is recognized for her innovative work in exaggerated seed-pot forms in large and miniature sizes. She covers her vessels with black and white or polychrome patterns of staggering intricacy, painted freehand with computer-like precision.
Dorothy has extrapolated the innovative forms and decorations that were initiated by Lucy Lewis and Marie Chino, famous potters in the previous Acoma generation. Her mother taught her to make pottery and still helps with the firing. An unusually deft painter who uses a traditional yucca brush, Dorothy maintains that the ideas for her decorations come from God. Her daughter helps gather the clay, grinds the mineral rock pigments, and chews the plant fronds for her mother's brushes.
This artist lives a secluded life on the Acoma reservation, but her meticulous work and startlingly difficult designs are in great demand. Style and perfection are hallmarks of her painting.
It is impossible to analyze the mathematical precision of these designs, which she works out in her mind and puts directly on the pot. She looks at a pot, visually divides it in half, then in quarters, then eighths, sixteenths, and more, and keeps dividing until there is no room on the surface. After the mental gymnastics, she begins to paint the pot. Curiously enough, she paints in the negative, the opposite of the way our minds read it.
