Whirling Goddesses of Windway Chant [SOLD]

Lucy McKelvey was raised by her great-grandparents and other older relatives near Sheep Springs, Arizona. In the 8th grade she moved to Gallup, New Mexico, to live with her mother and attend high school. She received a degree in education from Brigham Young University and taught for many years on the Navajo Reservation.

Lucy first learned to make pottery around 1973 as a college student, working with ceramic clay and firing her pieces in an electric kiln. As she learned more about the history of both Navajo and Hopi-Tewa pottery, she began to use only traditional methods—utilizing only native clays and pigments and firing her pieces in outdoor oak fired kilns. Today, her complex designs, influenced by Navajo sand paintings, are executed in natural pigments made from hematite, beeplant and various clays.

The recipient of numerous awards, McKelvey has taught her three daughters the skills of pottery making. On her personal website, she gives the following artist statement:  

“I am mostly a self-taught potter who has spent the last 44 years trying to make the art of Navajo pottery evolve up into a fine art form that goes beyond tradition but still uses traditional native materials and methods. I am known for making very large, polychrome pots in a great variety of shapes that are painted with almost outrageous detail.  Most of my work tells a story and contains design elements from the ancients, ceremonial sandpaintings, baskets, and rugs that have been stylized by my own imagination and inspiration.”

This amazing jar contains a myriad of intricate design elements for which McKelvey is well known. Titled “The Whirling Rainbow Goddesses of the Windway Chant,” it features four female yei figures gracefully spiraling around a low squat shaped jar with a wide flat shoulder. The shape of the jar allowed for the sand painting designs to swirl around as if they were being moved by the wind. Painted in between each of the yei figures are four distinct botanical elements representing the four sacred plants—corn, beans, squash and tobacco. Rendered in multiple shades of red, brown and pale blue, the vessel is signed on the bottom with the name of the jar and the artist: Lucy Leuppe McKelvey Asdzaan Kiisaani (Pueblo Woman) Navajo.

Condition: this amazing vessel entitled Whirling Goddesses of Windway Chant is in excellent condition

Provenance: From a Santa Fe collector

Recommended Reading: Enduring Traditions, by Jerry and Lois Jacka