Nathan Begaye was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1958 to a Navajo father and a Hopi mother.[3] He was raised by his maternal grandparents in the Third Mesa and Tuba City, Arizona.[3] His aunt was noted Hopi potter Otellie Loloma. His upbringing in the Navajo/Hopi communities was steeped in tribal traditions, and he was schooled in the lore, history, religion, symbolism, and customs of the Navajo and Hopi peoples.[3]
Art career
Begaye's interest in pottery began early, at age 10, and he had his first public exhibition only one year later.[4] He learned traditional techniques and pigment recipes from people in his tribal community, both Navajo and Hopi.[3] As they were tribal secrets, he kept these to himself even when he became a teacher later in life.[3] After receiving a SWAIA scholarship,[5] he left home at age 14 to study ceramics at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, NM.[3]
Although his upbringing was very conservative, Begaye used unexpected and unorthodox techniques in his work.[3] Said to utilize a "maverick sense of form, texture, color, and design,"[6] Begaye's work was often personal and autobiographical.[3]
12345678Clark, Garth. Free Spirit: The New Native American Potter. Hertogenbosch, Netherlands: Stedelijik Museum's, 2006: 102-123.
↑David Revere McFadden, Ellen Napiura Taubman, ed. (2002). Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation, 1: Contemporary Native American Art from the Southwest. London: Merrell. p.33.
↑Nichols, Robert F. (June–July 1993). "Beautiful...as Possible: The Pottery of Nathan Begaye". FOCUS Magazine.
