Victor and Naomi Eckleberry

Artist Profile

Victor & Naomi Eckleberry were born into the Santa Clara Pueblo. Victor was born in 1958 and Naomi was born in 1961. They were inspired spiritually to carry on the family tradition of pottery making. They have been making pottery since 1985.

They specialize in the traditional handmade black Santa Clara pottery. The designs they use on the black pottery have special meaning to them. The top of the pot represents the sky, the middle represents the serpent, the eye represents the moon and the bottom of the pot represents water or land. Everything etched on the pottery coincides with Father Sky and Mother Earth. Some of the designs they use include the kiva step (which are the mile stones in life), the feather (which represents the birds) and the water wave (which represents water). They hand coil a wide variety of shapes. Naomi hand coils and designs the shapes, while Victor enjoys carving the pottery. They sign their pottery: Victor & Naomi Eckleberry, date, followed by Santa Clara Pueblo. They are related to Margaret Tafoya.