Ceramics artist Luz Angela Crawford creates visually impactful pottery that looks primitive—and that’s on purpose. She studied fine art in her native Colombia and attended ceramics school in Italy, but much of her work was informed by watching women in indigenous communities shape clay into pots using only their hands. Crawford’s work follows those techniques without the use of a pottery wheel, and the results are striking. Her visually provocative ceramics contain natural elements like seeds or strings and almost feel like sculptures rather than pots. The richly textured surfaces appear to be made of wood or patterned cloth.
“I would describe my work as kind of contemporary but with a very primitive expression,” she says from her home in Amarillo. “I try to be very original with my work. I use very simple tools and I use my hands. It takes a long time to finish each piece.”
Crawford arrived in Amarillo in 1999 after meeting and marrying local podiatrist Patrick R. Crawford, who passed away in 2016. She still lives here, and says the Panhandle continues to influence her work. “When I first moved to Amarillo, I wasn’t using so much color, but after so many years living here you pick up some of the culture. People here like colorful things, so I started to do that,” Crawford explains. Lately, though, she’s been downplaying the color and using more earth tones. 
Her work has been published nationally in the high-profile publication Ceramics: Art & Perception, and over the past few months, she’s had multiple pieces on display in Mexico City. Crawford is currently making plans to show her pottery in Santa Fe this year.
