Sandra Victorino, Acoma Pueblo Potter, New Mexico
Sandra Victorino was born into the Pueblo of the Acoma in 1958 and belongs to the Acorn and Eagle Clans. Growing up in a family of well-known potters, including her grandmother Lita Garcia and aunt Dorothy Trivio, Sandra was immersed in the traditional ways of making some of the most beautiful and intricately painted Pueblo pottery today. She has mentored her son Cletus, who creates fine pottery in his distinctive style.
For over thirty years now, Sandra gathers, sifts and hand coils the finely grained slate-like clay of her Pueblo. She hand coils and paints her pottery with tiny fine brushes of yucca stems and natural native vegetal and mineral paints. The geometric designs on her seed pots, elegantly necked jars and thin walled creations are patterned with steps, checkerboards, spirals and feathers. The patterns often create an optical illusion of movement as her designs become finer and finer.
This kind-hearted and joyful artist has won numerous awards for her pottery at the Santa Fe Indian Market, the Heard Museum Indian Art Fair, the Eight Northern Pueblos Arts and Craft Show and many other venues. Her work can be found in numerous museums around the country.
Raven Makes Gallery is honored and happy to show Sandra’s beautiful creations to collectors who may not be aware of the Pueblos of the Southwest and the deep ancestral ties to Mother Clay, continuously reawakened at the hands of some of the world’s finest potters.