Preston Duwyenie

Hopi

Preston is an accomplished artist in several medias – ceramics, metalwork, jewelry, and painting. His pottery often combines traditional techniques with contemporary shapes. Preston has said, “I want to establish cultural innovations offering alternatives in artist expression with experimentation in various techniques and media.”

His Hopi name is Lomaiquilvaa–Carried in Beauty. This name was given to him after a relative had carried the sleeping boy home late at night following his initiation ceremony. How appropriate that name has become his hallmark. Born in Hotevilla, the third of three mesas on which the Hopi people have lived for centuries, Duwyenie grew up with beauty all around him. “Everyone has an art. My mother was a basket weaver, my father a Katsina carver. You grow up learning how to make art.”