Michael Jones

Nation/Clan: Onondaga/Seneca Descent
Media: Iroquois pottery, sculpture and pen/ink design

Artist Statement:

I was born in Lawton, Oklahoma at the Indian Hospital but we moved to the Cattaraugus Reservation at the age of 4. I started making pottery to sell at the age of 11 or so and I used to follow my father (Pete) to sell his art. We used to hitch-hike from “Bucktown” to the Seneca Nation clinic to sell when I was very young. It was our main source of income so I caught on quick. I’ve always liked clay as a medium, it can mimic stone when you carve it or it can be molded or added onto, it’s just very versatile.

What I like to do is incorporate Iroquois beadwork, wooden ladle and bone comb designs into my pottery as well. The pit firing process gives the pieces a more raw and earthy look akin to the original pre-contact Iroquois pottery. My pen and ink drawings are something I’ve always done but have recently started showing. I work without a sketch of what I’m going to do and if I make a “mistake” I turn it into something else that usually ends up looking better than what I was originally trying to go for. Some originals are as large as 18×24 but most are 9×12. The subject matter of my drawings range from personal experience on and off the reservation as well as dreams and imaginations.

Education:
Ceramics- Apprentice to father Peter Jones, Design- Workshops with printmakers Jack Lamotte and Jean Lamarr, as well as self-taught
Some places I have shown and permanent collections:
Heard Museum- Phoenix, Arizona, Iroquois Indian Museum- Howes Cave, New York, Seneca-Iroquois Museum, Salamanca, New York, The Buffalo Gallery – Alexandria, Virginia, American Indian Contemporary Arts – San Francisco, California, Southern Plains Indian Museum – Anadarko, Oklahoma