Joel Queen
When Joel Queen of Cherokee, NC first visited the Southern Highlands Reserve to inspect what had been described to him as "a piece of soapstone the size of a Volkswagen that we don't know what to do with", he began an artistic adventure that culminated in the creation of a sculpture that has captivated each person who has seen what is called, for lack of a better name, 'the Indian Rock Fireplace'. Located on the roof garden patio, Joel's sculpture is a depiction of the legend explaining how the Native American people came to acquire fire.
Although mainly a potter, Joel also works in stone and wood. His work is featured in the following collections, among others: Smithsonian, Washington, D.C.; British Museum, London, England; Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, Charlottesville, VA; Red River Museum, Idabel, OK; National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, OK; University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC; North Carolina Museum of History, Raleigh, NC; Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, VA; Western Carolina University Fine Arts Center, Cullowhee, NC; Cherokee Heritage Museum, Tahlequah, OK; Museum of the Cherokee Indian, Cherokee, NC.
Joel's work expresses the evolution of the lineage of potters known as the Bigmeat family. As the ninth generation Bigmeat potter, most recently following the path of his paternal grandmother, Ethel Bigmeat Queen (1914–1942), he is an extension of her work just as she was the extension of the work of her parents, grandparents, and great grandparents for as far back as we know.
His talent is transferred genetically. It is a gift from his ancestors to be able to give meaning to clay, to pick up earth and create something that symbolizes his Cherokee culture. "I want my work to personify a legacy of thousands of years of Cherokee pottery, all that was taught and seen. I want to evoke from the viewer an appreciation of native art that embraces all of Cherokee history," notes Queen.
"I want my work to show innovation, incorporate new ideas and reveal the vitality of my society. I want it to both typify the traditions of my ancestors, and embody my modern Cherokee experience in each piece."
"Each creation has a specific time, place, function and design relative to my spirituality at the time. Art is an essential element to my life but only a part of a whole. My experiences, traditions, and spirituality continue to guide the production of my art, while preserving the spirit of the past, present and the future."
"As a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians I feel I have a responsibility to keep Cherokee art alive. I live to teach others about my art and the Cherokee culture. Prejudice drives me to educate. It is my passion to break the stereotype that has been placed upon Native art. The simplicity of line is what I look for and line is what I manipulate. Stone and wood speak to me in a visual picture and then I carve that image. Ceramics binds my images to the functional world. I strive to link all cultures together through art. My goal is to create art so that people can see their past and future in my creations."
There are currently only about 14,000 members of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians left and roughly, 250,000 members of the Cherokee Nation and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. He is probably the only Cherokee potter that is still producing a true Cherokee pot in the traditional manner. Unless others follow his lead, he will be the last traditional Cherokee potter.
