Artist Bio:
Born into Santa Clara Pueblo
in 1987, Johnathan Naranjo is the grandson of Bernice Naranjo
and nephew of Dusty Naranjo. He is one of the next generation
of potters bridging the gap between ancient traditions and contemporary
life.
He began working with clay
early in life and developed his own distinctive style. Johnathan
has also developed a keen sense as to when to pull something
from the fire in order to get a dark brown product rather than
the usual black. Then he uses his sgraffito tools to add a mix
of contemporary and traditional designs.
Because of his firing process,
he can get varying colors in his sgraffito work depending on
the depth of the scratch.
Johnathan also won the Tony
Da Award at the Santa Fe Indian Market for his intricate and
innovative style of pottery.