Carolyn Concho

Acoma Pueblo

Photo of Carolyn Concho
Carolyn Lewis-Concho

Carolyn Lewis-Concho is a potter born in Acoma Pueblo in 1963. She was encouraged to participate in continuing the generations of tradition of working with clay by several of her family members but she says it was her older sister, Marilyn Ray, who helped her make the decision to be an artist who only uses natural materials to construct her work.

Carolyn often paints Mimbres-Revival animals and other designs on her pottery. There is an interview with Carolyn where she talks about how she makes her pottery and what the shapes and designs mean to her. The video was streamed live in August, 2020.

Carolyn uses appliqués of one sort or another on a lot of her pottery. I'm talking butterfly and hummingbird wings, lizard heads and lady bugs, a cloudeater's head and the fish in its throat. If it's a seed pot with a lizard on top, there's probably a painted appliqué of a lizard's tail on the back side of the piece. Many of her pieces have a painted lady bug on the back side, some have fish. It depends on what's on top.

She signs her pottery: "Carolyn Concho, Acoma", usually adding a corn stalk and a lizard hallmark.

Geometric design surrounds raised butterfly wing and ladybug on a polychrome seedpot
Polychrome seedpot with raised ladybug and butterfly wing surrounded by geometric design
1.25 in H by 3 in Dia
Geometric design surrounds a raised dragonfly body and ladybug on a polychrome seedpot
Polychrome seedpot with raised ladybug and dragonfly body surrounded by geometric design
1.25 in H by 2.25 in Dia
Geometric design and raised turtle on a polychrome seedpot
Polychrome seedpot with geometric design and raised turtle
2 in H by 4 in Dia
Geometric design and raised dragonfly body, ladybug and butterfly wing on a polychrome seedpot
Polychrome seedpot with raised dragonfly body, ladybug and butterfly wing surrounded by geometric design
1.75 in H by 4.5 in Dia
Fish and geometric design on a polychrome seed pot
Polychrome seed pot with fish and geometric design
1.75 in H by 3 in Dia
Deer, butterfly and geometric design on a polychrome seedpot
Polychrome seedpot with deer, butterfly and geometric design
1.25 in H by 3 in Dia
Lizard and geometric design on a polychrome seedpot
Polychrome seedpot with lizard and geometric design
1.5 in H by 3 in Dia
Polychrome seedpot with Mimbres bird and fish design
Polychrome seedpot with Mimbres bird and fish plus rain design
1.25 in H by 3 in Dia
Hummingbird and geometric design on a polychrome seed pot
Polychrome seed pot with hummingbird and geometric design
1.25 in H by 2 in Dia
Lizard, shard and geometric design on a polychrome seed pot
Polychrome seed pot decorated with a lizard, shard and geometric design
1.5 in H by 3 in Dia
Fine line, insect, shard and geometric design on a polychrome seed pot
Polychrome seed pot with insect, fine line, shard and geometric design
1.75 in H by 4 in Dia
Lady bug, butterfly and geometric design on a polychrome seed pot
Polychrome seed pot decorated with a lady bug, butterfly and geometric design
1.5 in H by 3.5 in Dia
Lizard, shard and geometric design on a polychrome seed pot
Shard, lzard and geometric design decorate a polychrome seed pot
1.5 in H by 3 in Dia
Fine line, insect, shard and geometric design on a polychrome seed pot
Polychrome seed pot with insect, fine line, shard and geometric design
1.75 in H by 4 in Dia
Lizard, fine line and geometric design on a polychrome seed pot
Polychrome seed pot decorated with a lizard, fine line and geometric design
1.25 in H by 2.25 in Dia
Rabbit, fine line and geometric design on a black and white seed pot
Fine line, rabbit and geometric design decorate a black and white seed pot
0.75 in H by 1.75 in Dia