Man of Spirit

[rough draft of my prelimanary research - I realize where I need to get more information, unfortunately that might not be possible before Tuesday -unless I can pin people down before they leave town- so we'll see]


It is never too late to try something new and reignite a passion for the arts. With more than 55 years under his belt as a botanist professor at Sacramento State, Professor Lee Kavaljian has shown us that he is more than a man of the sciences; he is a man of art, using his knowledge of science to create exquisite motifs on his ceramic spirit houses.

Kavaljian started working as a professor at Sacramento State in 1954 and though he’s always had an interest in the arts, he didn’t start creating his own work until an art student taking one of his botany classes challenged him.

“This student, who was an art student, wasn’t doing too well in my class, especially with the drawings of plants we were doing. I poked some fun, you know. Until they said, well if you can throw a bowl on a wheel than I’ll work harder in your class,” said a charismatic Kavaljian. He took the challenge and found that throwing a ceramic bowl wasn’t as simple and easy and he first thought. At the age of 60 he set out to learn how, with the help of his student and by attending Saturday classes on campus. His newfound passion grew and in time he started to create ceramic spirit houses with intricate detailed floral and calligraphic motifs.

Spirit houses date back to the Ming Dynasty in China. In order to help the deceased in the afterlife, it was customary to include at the burial site small porcelain houses in which the spirit of the deceased could live. Now they are more commonly found in Southeast Asian homes and buildings in order to provide shelter to the Phram Phum, or “guardian spirit of the land.”

The worship of spirits is connected with the traditional belief in a spirit world, also known as animism. In Thailand especially, it is believed that these Phram Phum need to be appeased when disturbed and by providing the spirit with a home of it’s own the land the spirit inhabits will remain in pace and harmony with the new property owners.