Brandon Adriano Ortiz-Concha

The School for Advanced Research is pleased to welcome Taos Pueblo artist, Brandon Adriano Ortiz-Concha as the 2021 Rollin and Mary Ella King Native Artist fellow. Ortiz-Concha creates micaceous pottery and is also a formally trained architect. He originally learned Pueblo pottery techniques from Clarence Cruz in 2017 and saw it as a way to stay connected with his community while away at school.  

In Ortiz-Concha’s words:  

While studying architecture at the University of New Mexico, I became intrigued with the containers we create for life and living. That from the world around us, we can curate materials to form shelters which connect us to and protect us from our surroundings.

During his time at SAR, Brandon Adriano Ortiz-Concha, plans to “experiment with micaceous clay in a variety of ways to create a dialogue between [him]self, the clay, and the fire.” This project is titled, Conversations with Clouds. He plans to experiment with a variety of different surface textures, indentations, extrusions, printing techniques and firing techniques with the goal of “prompting a visual response from the fire” and better understand “the language with which smoke clouds are written on clay walls.”  

Ortiz-Concha plans to fire his pottery on campus with the goal of firing once every two weeks. He also looks forward to accessing the Indian Arts Research Center collection and SAR library during his tenure.  

In his application, Ortiz-Concha stated that he, “believe[s] pottery vessels, like our homes, are dwellings to live in and they speak to our truest selves.”

Brandon Adriano Ortiz-Concha will be in residence from September 1 – November 30, 2021.