Camilla Toya

Artist Profile

Camilla “Mia” Toya is a member of the Corn Clan. She was born in 1974 and was given the Indian name of Rainbow Basket. Mia was inspired to continue the long lived tradition of working with clay from many members of her family who are well known artists. They taught Mia to construct pottery using the ancient hand coiling methods of her ancestors. Mia began working with clay at the age of 14 and continues to add her unique style of art to this day.

Mia specializes in contemporary styled hand coiled melon swirl pottery with butterfly lids. She sands each melon pot individually to get the roundness of the swirl in proportion with each other. Then, she hand shapes her butterflies and paints them with natural colors. “I love butterflies and have a strong passion for creating my own style of art,” Mia said. She signs her pottery: Camilla Toya, Jemez Pueblo. She is related to Maxine Toya (mother), Damian Toya (brother), Marie Romero (grandmother), Laura Gachupin (aunt) and Gordon Foley (cousin).