Aguilar, Vidal

Vidal Aguilar (b.1972) is a potter from Santo Domingo Pueblo. Among his forebears are the famous Aguilar sisters, Felipita Aguilar Garcia and Asuncion Aguilar Caté, Santo Domingo potters extraordinaire in the late 1800s. Vidal’s effort has been to make pottery like they did, using the same materials. He uses a crushed mineral to get his black paint, not the usual boiled-down guaco/beeweed most pueblo potters use. He has also made some of the largest pieces made at Santo Domingo in the last 50 years.

Vidal learned how to make pottery through watching his mother, Helen, and aunt, Rafaelita Aguilar, as they made pottery. Helen showed her children where to find the best clay and materials on the pueblo and taught them all how to make large pieces, both traditional polychrome and black-on-black. Vidal’s sister, Darlene, collaborates with their mother often but Vidal and his brother, Robert, work on their own.