Skip to main contentBiographyQöyawayma was raised in the San Fernando Valley and graduated in 1961 from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo before earning a master’s degree in engineering from the University of Southern California. He is a co-founder of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. In addition, he is both a potter and a bronze sculptor. His artistic work is minimalist and incorporates cross-cultural elements. Many of his pots include representations of maize. Qöyawayma finds and processes the clay he uses in his pots himself. He uses a spiral coiling techniques and fires his pots at very high temperatures using coal (a technique long used by his Coyote clan of the Hopi), resulting in the vitrification of the clay, creating a smooth and polished surface. Qöyawayma learned traditional ceramics from his aunt, Polingyasi Elizabeth Qöyawayma (Elizabeth Q. White), who authored a book in 1964: “No Turning Back: A Hopi Woman’s Struggle to Live in Two Worlds.” Qöyawayma received a Fulbright fellowship to assist the Maori people of New Zealand rebuild their tradition of ceramic pottery making. His pottery embodies two distinct styles: figurative sculpted reliefs using the repoussé technique and vessels made with traditional coil construction and tactile stone polished surfaces.
Al H. Qöyawayma
Hopi, born 1938
Person TypeIndividual
