Randall E. Becker

Mazomanie, Wisconsin

Title: Buffalo Drum Vase #44

Year of Creation: 2007

Glaze: Wood fire slips, Q-N Turquoise Blue and Boyden Bronze

Clay Body: Stoneware

Dimensions: Height 20 inches, Width 15 inches

Artist's Statement:

Ake Toks'a Akta Lakota

(until next time, honor the people)

Who is my God? Do I make my art or does my art make me? The best art comes from the mind and body, and the best of the best comes from the heart and soul. We don't have to invent new notes to make new music. Artists as symbol maker? God gave all people a cup of clay and from that they drink life. These are the thoughts that begin the formation of my art. My art reflects my life, my roots of growing up on the prairies of South Dakota, the influence of the Lakota Indian traditions and a German Lutheran heritage on my spirit and soul. Life has many stages of struggle and celebration. It is through my art that I discover not only what I am made of but also what I can make myself into.

This is about the beauty of form and function as well as the ideas and memories of landscape, of Unci (Grandmother), and Inan (Mother) Maka (Earth).

This also about education, learning and understanding the truth we share. It is about the power and honesty of another way of walking in this time.

Sometimes we dream of being more than what we are.

Ho hetch etu aloh. Mitakuye Oyas'in. (We are all one. We are all related.)

Tecikila, (I love you).