has created new characters: Tahu, the main character is not only a strong woman but also the leader of the blind archers who was blinded by the conquistadors in an archery contest. Tahu represents the strong women – mothers and grandmothers – in pueblo life who serve as role models.
Using live models, who are costumed, painted, and photographed, Ortiz more fully develops characters in costume and dress for not only for vessels and figures he makes but to populate
his graphic novels (Revolt, Issues 1-4), video, and film. A great many of the film scenes are
starkly represented in actual environments in and around Cochiti – namely, Tent Rocks and White Sands.
Brilliantly all his artwork and intellectual
property is protected. Virgil keeps all molds, actions figures, storyboards/storylines, photographs of objects made and sold, exhibits, copyrighted materials, musical scores (Virgil writes the scores to his videos and film), the language he created to use in the film (not Keres) and trademarks to support his claim to original material and to protect it from copying. This well thought out practice of protecting and documenting the creation of his work he learned and engaged early on: first, at the urging of his cousin and manager, Tish Agoyo.
It now appears Virgil is ready, as he is planning a move to Los Angeles so to focus his energies on getting the film made.
All in All
It would be easy to view Ortiz’s work in isolation, through individual pieces, as a very successful commercial operation, strategically positioned to capitalize on multiple revenue streams generated through a particular stylistic take on what mainstream America would view as an exotic “Other.” And what Virgil has created is a very successful commercial enterprise, complete with an e-commerce
website designed not only to sell but to educate through a Virgil Ortiz Museum (VOM), whose digitized pieces come to 3-dimensional light through QR codes, social media sidebars, augmented reality, etc.
But that would be a misinterpretation. Yes, Virgil has found a means to generate income, through the creation and sale of vessels and items of fashion; but those revenues primarily went to finance and protect his larger vision, the feature length film he envisioned very early in
his career. What better describes Virgil is that he is an educator, forged through Cochiti and clay, who wishes for nothing more than “to keep the tradition of pottery making in Cochiti alive and to educate all peoples about the pueblo revolt.” This is truly the reason Ortiz believes he was placed on this earth, and doing art is, as he says, what he “can do best for my people.”
And yes, Virgil recognizes he has had help along the way. He credits his family for giving himself access to and teaching him about the business of pottery making, gallery representation, marketing, and sales. But as we
noted, Ortiz fundamentally has built upon his own vision, informed still by “messages” like those presented through ancestral memory and other means. He has his own style, own way of telling his and his peoples’ stories, and own
Art is, for Ortiz, “as important as language.” Most importantly, art is a way, the means, he can “help educate globally about what happened.” The hope is: the art he produces is “not only a lesson but a prayer that it doesn’t happen again.
38