Form and Relation

Form and Relation showcases the versatility of ceramics and its many forms through the work of seven contemporary Indigenous artists from across what is now the United States. Bringing together recent acquisitions, commissioned works, and loans directly from artists’ studios, this book urges audiences to reconsider and expand their understanding of what constitutes Native American ceramics. The catalogue highlights the innovative and critical works of renowned artists Anita Fields, Courtney M. Leonard, Cannupa Hanska Luger, Ruben Olguin, Rose B. Simpson, Kali Spitzer, and Roxanne Swentzell through stunning photography by Addison Doty and critical essays by Hood Museum curatorial staff and outside scholars. In addition to shifting expectations, Form and Relation introduces new forms that demonstrate the ability of ceramics to hold complexity and wrestle with concepts like community, identity, gender, land, extraction, global climate change, colonialism, language, and responsibility.

Exhibition dates: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, April 1–August 2, 2020

Jami C. Powell (Osage) is associate curator of Native American art at the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth. Anya Montiel (Tohono O’odham) is assistant professor of art history at the University of Arizona. Sequoia Miller is chief curator at the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, Toronto. Courtney M. Leonard (Shinnecock) is an artist and former faculty member in ceramics at the Tyler School of Art at Temple University. Morgan E. Freeman (Nipmuc) is the DAMLI Native American Art Fellow at the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth.