Al Qoyawayma

Al Qöyawayma (b.1938) is more than your typical Hopi potter.While his seed jars are exquisite, his architectural mesas are unlike anything else in the world. Al Qoyawayma finds the clay and processes it himself. He uses a spiral coiling technique, and fires his pots at a “very high temperature” which “results in vitrification of the clay which creates a smooth and polished surface.” He uses coal to produce these high temperatures, which is a technique long used by his Coyote clan of the Hopi.