Acoma Pueblo potter Robert Patricio says, “Holding on to Mother Earth is what you want.” From remembering the smell of the clay as he watched his great-grandmother Marie Zieu Chino and his aunt Grace Chino make their pots, to learning technique from his parents Doris and Patrick, to teaching his daughters, Patricio maintains a reverence for tradition and the physical connection to Mother Earth, working with and forming the clay into prize-winning vessels. Since 2000, he has won more than 40 awards including Best in Pottery in the Santa Fe Indian Market.
Lightning Jar, native clay
“Watching my great-grandmother and my aunt work with the clay was so enjoyable,” he says. “The smell of the clay made you want to eat it, to get your hands into it. But you have to be taught. You can’t learn by just watching. My parents taught me the techniques. My mother also said, ‘Mother Earth is here to show you. The earth was put here for your use.’”
Red Mesa Heart Lines, water jar, native clay
He offers prayers and makes offerings before the arduous process of gathering the clay and throughout the process of completing a pot. “Clay can feel your energy. If I feel stressed out, I don’t make pottery. When I’m making a pot, I offer a prayer to my mother to help me work faster and better,” he says. “I also make an offering for guidance. Since the clay often has a mind of its own, you don’t know how the pot’s going to form. If you need to have the clay dry faster, you ask for drier weather.”
Chaco Canyon Storm, water jar, native clay
One way he is able to work faster is to use wider coils to build up the walls of the vessel. Whereas his mother used inch and a half thick coils (many potters work even smaller). Patricio uses coils that are flattened to about 2 to 3 inches in width.
The energy in a finished pot is the positive energy of its maker. There is also a connection to the past. Patricio grinds up shards of ancient pottery to add to his clay. Known as temper, the material prevents the clay from cracking as it dries or is fired. “I tell my collectors that when they buy my pots their also getting ancestral pots.”
Butterflies, water jar, native clay
The shapes and painted designs of his pots are firmly rooted in Acoma tradition and adapted by his own creative instincts. He is known for his large ollas, storage and water vessels.
An exhibition of his recent work, Yunni tsameh Kaa’ch: Songs of the Rain, will be shown at King Galleries in Santa Fe, New Mexico, June 1, with the artist demonstrating his skill at pottery making from 1 to 3 p.m.
King Galleries
June 1, 2024
130 Lincoln Avenue D, Santa Fe, NM 87501
(480) 481-0187, www.kinggalleries.com
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