Creator Record
Metadata
Name |
Jacques, Ada |
Notes |
Ada Jacques Gae wah: waks Onondaga Nation Turtle Clan (1928 - 2016) Ada Jacques was a longtime resident of the Onondaga Nation territory, near Nedrow, NY. Largely self-taught, she enjoyed expressing her creativity through highly original quilts, beaded medallions, and cornhusk dolls. Growing up, Ada watched her father, Harry Webster, as he constructed sleighs, turtle rattles, and water drums. Her husband Louis Jacques was a well-known lacrosse stick maker, a tradition that her son Alf continues to practice today. Although surrounded by these artistic options, Ada's creative journey would follow a different path. In 1996, her daughter Frieda gave then 68-year old Ada the gift of a ceramic class. This chance opportunity would introduce Ada to a medium that she would embrace until the end of her life. By the time Ada completed the class at the Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, she was enamored of clay's possibilities. Additional classes at Syracuse University (NY) fueled this newfound passion. As if making up for lost time, Ada explored endless shapes, finishes, and firing techniques with immense enthusiasm. Using a variety of stoneware, porcelain, and raku clays, she created double-necked wedding vases, urns, cups, pots, and corn sculptures. Her love of new ideas led her to employ traditional Iroquois motifs as well as other concepts. At times she used a pottery wheel. At other times she coaxed the clay into the desired form using a slab or freehand method. Not wedded to any particular vocabulary few pieces were similar to those that came before. As she gained confidence her work became larger, more polished, and distinctively expressive of her own esthetic styling. It wasn't long before the workshop on her property that once housed the family's small lacrosse factory was repurposed to become her ceramic studio. Ada's work was featured in several venues including Onondaga Community College, the Everson Museum (Syracuse, NY), and the Skäonoñh Great Law of Peace Center (Liverpool, NY). She is represented in the permanent collections of the Iroquois Museum and the Everson Museum. *Bio text cannot be used in print or web publications without IIM permission. Use for other purposes (such as research papers, presentations) should credit the IIM. |
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