Christine McHorse, also known in the art world as Christine Nofchissey McHorse, is a ceramics artist of Navajo descent. Her work combines Navajo and Pueblo art traditions.
Early years
Born Christine Nofchissey in 21 December 1948 in Morenci, Arizona, the fifth of nine children of Mark and Ethel Yazzie Nofchissey, McHorse lived off of a reservation in her childhood but spent summers in Fluted Rock, Arizona, herding sheep and learning about Navajo lore from her grandmother, Zonith Bahe. McHorse was introduced to Picasso, Gaudi and Matisse at the boarding school she attended at age 14, which she says "opened a whole new world to us". From 1963-1968, she studied at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico when it was a high school for the arts on the campus of the Santa Fe Indian School. Originally intending to study glassblowing, she chose to study ceramics when the glassblowing major was discontinued the year she arrived, studying with Ralph Pardington, Charles Loloma, Allan Houser and Fritz Scholder. She met her future husband Joel P. McHorse at IAIA and was influenced by her future grandmother-in-law, Lena Archuleta of Taos Pueblo, to begin working with ceramics. Archuleta inspired and instructed McHorse in using the shimmering micaceous clay that was common to the Taos area, and McHorse continues to use that clay in her work.
Personal life
In 1969 McHorse married Joel P. McHorse, a Taos Pueblo Indian and fellow art student whom she met at the Institute of American Indian Arts. They had two children, Joel Christopher and Jonathan Thomas, originally living in Taos but later moving to Sante Fe.
Artwork and recognition
McHorse's artwork combines Navajo, Pueblo, and Anglo cultures. McHorse's pottery uses a traditional coil-building method and she bases her work on traditional Navajo designs and legends, influenced by the Pueblo artistry but her work is nontraditional in appearance. Much of her work has a signature black surface, created by depriving the clay of oxygen during firing and making her creations popular in contemporary art venues. She prefers to do the firing in the traditional mode but uses the electric kiln for pre-firing larger pieces, some up to 2 feet, to prevent the chance of breakage. She uses cedarwood and cottonwood bark as fuel for her traditional firing. Although in Navajo pottery tradition boiled pinon-pine pitch is applied on the surface of fired pots for waterproof, McHorse uses it more for incised design to create contrast.. Her large pottery has the sound of glass when tapped. McHorse was a participant in the Santa Fe Indian Market for 23 years, winning 38 awards for both pottery and sculpture. Her work can be found in the permanent collections of the Heard Museum, the Denver Art Museum, the National Museum of the American Indian, Navajo Nation Museum, and more. McHorse's work is also featured in the book Dark Light: The Ceramics of Christine Nofchissey McHorse.
