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• Diego Romero(Cochiti, born 1964)
• New Mexico
• 1995
• Clay and paint
• Gift of Virginia Vogel Mattern, 2003.1222

Diego Romero is a Cochiti potter. Using traditional materials, such as clay and natural paint pigments, and coil pottery techniques, he has created works that address contemporary issues. In this work, the two men wearing traditional Pueblo hairstyles are shown struggling in this secularized environment. The figures often appearing in Romero’s works are metaphors for the struggles of Indigenous peoples living in the present. They struggle with addiction, watch American sports, but they also partake in the dances and ceremonies of their communities. Many Indigenous peoples sought to escape from the pressure of “living in two worlds,” and one of the ways they did this was through alcohol.