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Lot Essay
Tradition and innovation are the hallmarks of Charles Loloma's work.
Raised on the Hopi Pueblo, Loloma (1921-1991) held the traditions of his people close to his heart. And although he was well educated, well traveled and achieved great fame in his lifetime, he remained at Third Mesa and actively participated in the spiritual life of his people by serving in the Hopi Snake Society and being a ceremonial clown. It was his connectedness to his culture that inspired his jewelry designs.
Charles Loloma began his life as an artist in his late teens when he was still a student. At age eighteen, he participated in the reproduction of the Awatovi murals for the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Loloma was also asked by Renée d'Harnoncourt and artist Fred Kabotie to assist in painting murals for the Federal Building in the 1939 Golden Gate Exposition in San Francisco. However, painting was not his only area of interest as an artist.
After serving in the army for three years, Loloma began studies in ceramics at the School for American Craftsmen at Alfred University, in Alfred, New York. There he was awarded a fellowship from the Whitney Foundation for the research in ceramics on the Hopi Reservation. His studies continued from 1949 to 1951. Three years later, he opened a pottery shop at the Kiva Craft Center in Scottsdale.
By 1955, Loloma began turning his interest to jewelry, and over the next ten years he devoted nearly all of his time to this art form. He also began sharing his expertise by teaching at the University of Arizona, Tucson and at Arizona State University at Tempe. In 1962, with the founding of the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, Loloma was able to realize his longstanding goal of teaching American Indian students ways in which to express themselves artistically while embracing their native culture.
By 1966, Loloma worked exclusively as a jewelry maker and opened a shop and studio near Hotevilla. Early in his career, Loloma's work was not universally accepted as it was deemed to be too radical, or not Indian enough. Nobody was working the materials in the unique way he did. But the craftsmanship and aesthetic quality of his work could not be denied. Characterized by chunky inlays of stone and wood, the profiles created in Loloma's work echo the landscape of the southwest as well as pueblo architecture. After establishing himself as a master craftsman, he was highlighted in many museum and gallery shows throughout the U.S. and in Paris. He was also celebrated in books, on television, and by being asked to serve on various arts boards. Perhaps the most famous Native American jewelry artist of his day, Charles Loloma combined the expression of his Hopi belief system with great innovation in material and form.
Raised on the Hopi Pueblo, Loloma (1921-1991) held the traditions of his people close to his heart. And although he was well educated, well traveled and achieved great fame in his lifetime, he remained at Third Mesa and actively participated in the spiritual life of his people by serving in the Hopi Snake Society and being a ceremonial clown. It was his connectedness to his culture that inspired his jewelry designs.
Charles Loloma began his life as an artist in his late teens when he was still a student. At age eighteen, he participated in the reproduction of the Awatovi murals for the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Loloma was also asked by Renée d'Harnoncourt and artist Fred Kabotie to assist in painting murals for the Federal Building in the 1939 Golden Gate Exposition in San Francisco. However, painting was not his only area of interest as an artist.
After serving in the army for three years, Loloma began studies in ceramics at the School for American Craftsmen at Alfred University, in Alfred, New York. There he was awarded a fellowship from the Whitney Foundation for the research in ceramics on the Hopi Reservation. His studies continued from 1949 to 1951. Three years later, he opened a pottery shop at the Kiva Craft Center in Scottsdale.
By 1955, Loloma began turning his interest to jewelry, and over the next ten years he devoted nearly all of his time to this art form. He also began sharing his expertise by teaching at the University of Arizona, Tucson and at Arizona State University at Tempe. In 1962, with the founding of the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, Loloma was able to realize his longstanding goal of teaching American Indian students ways in which to express themselves artistically while embracing their native culture.
By 1966, Loloma worked exclusively as a jewelry maker and opened a shop and studio near Hotevilla. Early in his career, Loloma's work was not universally accepted as it was deemed to be too radical, or not Indian enough. Nobody was working the materials in the unique way he did. But the craftsmanship and aesthetic quality of his work could not be denied. Characterized by chunky inlays of stone and wood, the profiles created in Loloma's work echo the landscape of the southwest as well as pueblo architecture. After establishing himself as a master craftsman, he was highlighted in many museum and gallery shows throughout the U.S. and in Paris. He was also celebrated in books, on television, and by being asked to serve on various arts boards. Perhaps the most famous Native American jewelry artist of his day, Charles Loloma combined the expression of his Hopi belief system with great innovation in material and form.