Alan Lasiloo

Zuni Pueblo

Born at Zuni Pueblo in 1969, Alan Lasiloo has taken a varied route to get to his pottery career. After high school he moved to Santa Fe to attend the Institute of American Indian Arts where he first studied pottery and learned to work with micaceous clay. From there he went to the American College for the Applied Arts in Los Angeles to study fashion design. Then he returned to Zuni in 1999 and began the journey to becoming a potter in his own right.

First he recalled what he'd learned from his grandmother so many years before. Then he spent a few years experimenting and tuning up his process. He learned to turn a "mistake" into the centerpiece of a pot. He learned different methods of firing and was able to find a way to enhance streaking and make that part of his design. As he puts it: "I try to utilize what I have learned about fashion design by using lines, curves and pleats in my clay sculptures. This creates movement and brings life to the pieces."

Alan first entered the Santa Fe Indian Market in 2007 and earned red and blue ribbons that year for a couple of his pieces. He works a lot with Zuni white clay but also uses golden micaceous slips.