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Sofia Pino Medina

1932 Zia Pueblo, New Mexico - 2010

BiographySofia Pino Medina (Dzit'idyuwi) was born in 1932 on Zia Pueblo. Her grandmother, Rosalie Medina Toribio, was a renowned potter but she learned to make pottery from Trinidad Medina, the grandmother of her husband, Rafael Medina.

Sofia Medina and her husband often worked on pottery together. She encouraged him to paint in 1954; he worked both on paper and pottery, where he used watercolors and acrylic paints. He often decorated the pottery that Medina made. Many of Medina’s works featured a traditional coil method, painted with natural materials and fired in an outdoor kiln. She decorated many of her jars with traditional Zia symbols of capped feathers, Zia birds, and double rainbows. She made large traditional ollas as well as polychrome jars and bowls. She trained her children, Marcellus Medina, Samuel Medina and Lois Medina, in pottery.

Person TypeIndividual