Untitled (Moundbuilders – Hamburgers) Bowl

Diego Romero, born to a Cochiti Pueblo father and a non-Indigenous mother, describes his work as simultaneously very Indigenous and very Pop. He is a part of the history of pottery in the southwestern United States through his use of traditional materials, techniques and motifs such as hatching. However, he combines them with very contemporary elements to decry, often satirically, the devastating effects of European colonization on Indigenous peoples. On this bowl, figures that are recognizably Pueblo because of their dress and bun (chongo) hairstyle, are depicted in a style inspired by 1960s comic books. In a symbolization of the American consumer society that contributes to Indigenous peoples’ marginalization, they are trying – in vain – to build a mound with hamburgers.