Science Fiction Meets the 1680 Pueblo Revolt in Virgil Ortiz’s History Colorado Exhibition

Virgil Ortiz considers himself a conduit of his ancestors.

Hailing from Cochiti, New Mexico, Ortiz makes pottery the same way his Indigenous Pueblo ancestors have for generations: digging his own clay, making paint from wild spinach and firing his creations over aspen and cedar in an open pit. Perhaps the most recognized living practitioner of this ancient art, Ortiz also works in storytelling, photography and fashion design.

He’s also deeply invested in his region’s history with the 1680 Pueblo Revolt, which occurred when the Pueblo tribe in present-day-New Mexico expelled Spanish colonizers, who had been terrorizing the Pueblos for more than a century. It’s been called the first American Revolution, and while Ortiz has discussed it in exhibitions around the world, he’s realized the…