Gerry Quotskuyva

The School of Advanced Research is pleased to welcome Hopi katsina carver Gerry Quotskuyva as the 2018 Rollin and Mary Ella King Native Artist Fellow. A mid-career artist, Quotskuyva is a member of the Bear Strap Clan from the Second Mesa Village of Shungopavi. His remarkable style of carving has been nationally recognized on public television, and is represented in several museum collections. Quotskuyva  is currently working on a permanent collection for Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Quotskuyva comments:

My work transcends the traditional craft of Hopi Katsina carving. When I became an artist, I chose to pursue the creation of a body of work interpreting the Katsinum as a fine art form … As my creations continue to evolve, more of the cultural way of life and my environmental concerns are being incorporated into my sculptures.  As a result, I am feeling an even stronger desire to create with a message.

While at SAR, Quotskuyva will sculpt a piece he has long been dreaming about. Working with an unusually large piece of cottonwood root that has been drying in his garage for 12 years, Quotskuyva will carve numerous female Katsinum in flight, as if bursting from the base. He also intends to incorporate symbols of power and strength in the form of Puebloan designs and petroglyph images. The back of the root will provide a canvas for making an alcove ruin site with a diorama showcasing agricultural practices.  He calls his project, The Gnarly Root Project.

In addition to carving Katsinum, Quotskuyva founded the Verde Valley Ancestral Gardens which hosts a 17 week Farmer’s Market and an Adopt-a-Road clean-up program. He is also working in partnership with the Verde Valley Archaeology Center in designing and building a ¼ acre Heritage Garden. “Over the years, “he comments, “I realize how much my community projects have influenced and enriched my creative process.” Quotskuyva will be in residence at SAR from September 1 – December 1, 2018.