Corona, Vidal

A resident of Barrio Lopez, Vidal Corona is a first generation potter from the village of Mata Ortiz in northern Mexico. He and his wife, Luz Elva Gutierrez, make blank pots and bowls that they sell to other artists. Some they keep to decorate themselves.

Vidal’s signature pieces these days often offer uniquely expressive avian forms sculpted into the openings of his vessels. He then etches large and small designs into the surface of the clay, paints them in colors that match the theme of the pot and then fires them to produce his finished product. Many of his designs revolve around macaws, parrots, eagles and other birds, and butterflies.

His sister, Angela Corona, credits Vidal with teaching her how to make pottery and she has become successful in her own right, developing a distinctive series of polychrome owl effigy jars and lizard-covered seed pots.