Iris Nampeyo
Artist Profile
Iris Youvella Nampeyo is a Hopi-Tewa potter and member of the Corn Clan. Her favorite designs include appliqued corn cobs with leaves. “When I was just a little girl, I would sit by my mother (Fannie Polacca) making little ladles and I didn’t know how to paint. My father said, ’why don’t you paint a corn on the ladle?’ (a symbol of the family clan). And I though he meant to build up a corn. Then, I started painting and then I got back to the reservation and saw all the traditional pots. And then I saw a pot with a corn on it and remembered what my dad said and I thought I’d go in that direction. It was a Navajo pot. I feel a closeness to the corn because of my clan,” Nampeyo said. Iris is related to: Nampeyo (grandmother), Fannie Polacca Nampeyo and Vinton Polacca (parents), Leah Garcia Nampeyo, Harold Polacca Nampeyo Sr., Tonita Hamilton Nampeyo, Tom Polacca, Elsworth Polacca and Elva Tewaguna Nampeyo (siblings), Wallace Youvella Sr (husband), Wallace Youvella Jr., Nolan Youvella, Charlene Youvella and Doran Youvella (children).
Recent Work by Iris Nampeyo
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