Robert Patricio

Acoma

Robert Patricio was born in June, in 1976. He is considered to be one of the finest potters and painters coming from Acoma. Robert’s work shows an extremely high degree of sophistication in the shaping of his hand coiled pots and his application of superb graphics. He has been working on his shapes and has given a huge amount of attention to his fine line design work. His parents are Doris and Patrick Patricio Sr. of Acoma Pueblo. He started making his pottery at the incredibly young age of nine years old! As a young boy, he learned by watching his great-grandmother Marie Z. Chino. Robert says his inspiration comes from his mother, great-grandmother, and aunt Grace Chino.

Robert often paints designs that are interpreted from ancient pottery shards found on the lands of Acoma Pueblo. His polychrome and his black and white designs include geometric, fertility, flowers, Tularosa spirals, parrots, and kiva step patterns.

Robert collects his various clays, slips and natural vegetation to get the colors he wants. He prepares the clay by cleaning for impurities and then hand mixing with water. Then he constructs his vessels from the clay coils that he makes. Those are then air dried. The next task is the sanding. This is a tedious process, but essential to achieve the smooth finish. The natural vegetation is then cured, (such as wild spinach and flowers) and creates his colors. The process is finally completed after he applies his painted designs and patterns to the fired pots. Robert says he signs his pieces, “RM Patricio” for Robert Marcus Patricio.