Toya, Dominique

“The smaller the opening, the swirlier they get.”

Dominique Toya was born to Maxine Toya and Clarence Toya in 1971 at Jemez Pueblo. In those days she was known as Damian and she began creating pottery at about the age of five. She credits her mother Maxine for being the inspiration behind her interest in learning the traditional art. Her aunt, Laura Gachupin and grandmother, Marie G. Romero complete the roster of influential family potters in her early life.

Dominique gathers her clay and natural pigments from within the lands of Jemez Pueblo. Preparing the clay, she cleans and sifts and wets and mixes and dries, then hand coils, shapes, sands, and polishes before finally firing her pots.

Dominique says she was inspired to create her signature swirl melon pots by well-known Santa Clara potter Nancy Youngblood. She is aiming for nothing short of perfection, from the shape of her pots to the swirls that pour out of her openings. “The smaller the opening,” she said, “the swirlier they get.” The lines that circle a Dominique jar are perfectly spaced by taking an ice pick and scratching through the clay one line at a time, eventually covering the pot from top to bottom. “It’s all done by eyeball,” she said. “It’s just a part of me.”

Later she will sandpaper the grooves deep into the pot. Those deep groves are another signature, as is the sparkle in the final micaceous slip. She signs her pots as: “Dominique Toya, Jemez”, followed by the corn symbol to denote her clan origin.

Dominique’s career shifted into high gear with an award in the pottery division at the 2000 Annual Heard Museum Guild Indian Art Fair & Market. Then she was awarded Best of Class for Pottery at the 2009 Santa Fe Indian Market. A collaboration between Dominique and Jody Naranjo of Santa Clara Pueblo earned the duo the Best of Show award at the 2010 show at the Eiteljorg Museum of the American Indian in Indianapolis. She has been adding to her collection of blue ribbons almost every year since.

Career success, Dominique believes, is rooted in her decision to become “Dominique” and to leave behind an outer self that didn’t fit her. Born “Damian”, Dominique was already a successful potter before she accepted herself as a woman. She has been undergoing hormone therapy for the past several years as she completes her transformation. “My personal changes, my hormone therapy: everything happened all at once,” she told us.

Dominique still tells us she gets her inspiration from her mother, her grandmother and from good friends Nancy Youngblood and Jody Naranjo. Her favorite shape to work with is the water jar, preferably carved with deep swirls and slipped with micaceous clay. As a 5th generation Jemez Pueblo potter she says clay is her life and it has allowed her to relax and enjoy this amazing and fulfilling journey through life.

Some Awards Dominique has earned

• 2023 Santa Fe Indian Market, Special Raw Material Award
• 2023 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification IIA, Category 504 – Pins and Pendants, Second Place and an Honorable Mention
• 2019 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division A – Traditional unpainted pottery, Category 504 – Melon Bowls and Melon Jars, formed or carved: Honorable Mention
• 2019 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division A – Painted, native clay, hand build, fired out-of-doors: First Place. Awarded for collaborative artwork with Maxine Toya. Awarded for artwork: Traditional Storage Jar
• 2019 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division B – Unpainted, including ribbed, native clay, hand build, fired out-of-doors: Second Place. Awarded for artwork: Swirled Mica Water Jar
• 2019 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division B – Traditional Painted Pottery. Category 604 – Painted polychrome pottery in the style of Jemez, Zia, Santa Ana, Sandia, San Felipe, Isleta, any form: Second Place shared with Maxine Toya
• 2019 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division C – Traditional burnished black or red ware, incised, painted or carved, Category 704 – Incised or carved, any form: Second Place
• 2018 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division A – Traditional Unpainted Pottery, Category 504 – Melon Bowls and Melon Jars, Formed or Carved: Second Place
• 2018 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division B – Traditional Painted Pottery, Category 604 – Painted polychrome pottery in the style of Jemez, Zia, Santa Ana, Sandia, San Felipe, Isleta, any form: First Place. Shared First Place with Maxine Toya
• 2017 Santa Fe Indian Market: Classification II – Pottery, Division A – Traditional Unpainted Pottery, Category 504 – Melon bowls and melon jars, formed or carved: Honorable Mention
• 2016 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division B – Traditional, Native Clay, Hand Built, Unpainted Including Ribbed: First Place
• 2015 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market. Judge’s Choice Award – – Della C. Warrior. Awarded for artwork: Storage Jar
• 2015 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market. Judge’s Choice Award – Kathleen L. Howard. Awarded for artwork: Storage Jar
• 2013 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division B – Traditional, native clay, hand built, painted including ribbed: Honorable Mention
• 2012 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division A – Traditional, native clay, hand built, painted: Honorable Mention shared with Maxine Toya
• 2012 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division C – Traditional, native clay, hand built, carved: Honorable Mention
• 2010 Eiteljorg Museum Indian Market: Best of Show, collaborative work with Jody Naranjo. Awarded for artwork: “Double Insanity”
• 2010 Eiteljorg Museum Indian Market, Division 5 – Pottery, Category 501 – Traditional: First Place. Awarded for artwork: Swirled Vase
• 2010 Eiteljorg Museum Indian Market, Division 5 – Pottery, Category 502 – Contemporary: First Place for collaborative work with Jody Naranjo. Awarded for artwork: “Double Insanity”
• 2010 Eiteljorg Museum Indian Market, Division 5 – Pottery, Category 504 – Miscellaneous: First Place. Awarded for artwork: “Pride”
• 2010 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division B – Traditional, native clay, hand built, unpainted, including ribbed: Second Place
• 2010 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market: Judge’s Choice Award – Helen Kersting. Shared with Jody Naranjo. Awarded for artwork: “Double Insanity”
• 2008 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market. Classification II – Pottery: Best of Class
• 2008 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market. Classification II – Pottery, Division B – Traditional, native clay, hand built, unpainted: First Place