MagazineThis Native American Designer is Honoring his Heritage Through CraftJohnny Santiago Adao Ortiz-Concha works with clay from the surrounding land in his centuries-old adobe house

By Hannah Martin

February 21, 2022

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“Our style is just raw micaceous clay,” muses the creative polymath Johnny Santiago Adao Ortiz-Concha, describing the ceramic traditions of Taos Pueblo, New Mexico, the Native American community and UNESCO World Heritage Site where he grew up. (He now lives and works in the area.) “The material is so beautiful it doesn’t need anything else.” He digs up that clay not far from his home, hand-shaping it into tableware that he fires using cedar from nearby mountains, usually during a full moon. The results are oven-cured with elk marrow and beeswax. “Everything is rooted in this place,” notes Ortiz-Concha, who is also a chef, having honed his skills at notable restaurants like Saison in San Francisco and Alinea in Chicago. (He is pictured at his new studio with recent ceramic works, available through Object & Thing and Maida Goods, operated by his partner, Maida Branch.) In 2017, he returned to the area and, with a few friends, started Shed Project, a dinner series based on indigenous ingredients and practices that will return this spring. Plates flecked with mica might contain young peas, melon, and canyon grape, with a swirl of foraged weeds. On any given day, Ortiz-Concha dedicates himself to local living, milking cows, baling hay, or plastering the walls of his centuries-old adobe house. The goal: to create everything he needs from the land, just like his ancestors. shed-project.com —Hannah Martin

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1 / 5ChevronChevronOrtiz-Concha and his partner, Maida Branch, with milk cows on their property. Branch supports local makers through her platform Maida goods (maidagoods.com).