Amanda Lucario

Acoma

Amanda Lucario is a member of the Acoma Pueblo near Grants, New Mexico, a people known for incredibly intricate pottery designs. Amanda Lucario was born at the Acoma Pueblo in 1984. Her mother is the well-known potter, Rebecca Lucario, and her brother is Daniel Lucario. Amanda says she learned most about the traditional way of making pottery from her mother, but she also learned a lot from her aunts: Marilyn Ray, Carolyn Concho, Judy Lewis and Diane Lewis.

She has been potting since 2010. Some of her favorite shapes to make are the seed bowl and the vase, and some of her favorite designs consist of square patterns and snowflakes, rain clouds and the North Star.

Amanda would like everyone to know that she’s still working on perfecting her techniques and she’s always grateful for the motivation she receives from her mom and her aunt.

“I mine my own clay. It is a natural clay we use. We process it,” Lucario said. “We use a plant. We boil it and get the sap from that and you add it to the paint, and it turns the paint a darker brown and helps it stick.”
As an artist, Amanda says is her job to preserve the traditions of the past.
“Nobody does it anymore hardly,” she said. “It’s getting lost. And so is our language.”