Blind Strike (2026)

The Architect. The Archer. The Invader.

Three figures circle this pot. Each one knows what is coming. Only one does not survive it.

Po'pay 2180 stands in the storm — the architect of an uprising against a colonizing power, returned to fight again in 2180. Beside him, the Blind Archer takes aim. In Ortiz's universe, the Blind Archers do not need sight. They trust what they know — the land, the spirit, the cord. Their arrows find their mark.

The Castilian. Conquering. Certain. He does not see the storm rising. He does not hear the runners. By the time the Blindfall comes — relentless, merciless, unstoppable — he is already lost.

Ancient Clay. Future War.

This is the moment before the strike lands. The ancient form of the traditional storage pot holds the most urgent story Ortiz retells — the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, reignited in 2180. The figures move around the vessel the way history moves: in a circle, always returning, always unfinished.

Wild spinach plant — the ancient black pigment — painted onto Cochiti red clay, pit-fired the way it has been for centuries. The tradition did not change. The story did not end.

Currently on View

Blind Strike is featured in Continuum: Blindfall, First Strike — now on view at Vladem Contemporary, New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, through October 18, 2026. The exhibition draws visitors into the epicenter of the Revolt, where 1680 and 2180 fold into each other and time-traveling warriors known as The Last Sovereigns stand between storm-blinded battlefields and the distant future.

The invaders never saw the Blindfall coming. That's the point. — VO

Specs:
Traditional Storage Pot (2026)
15.5"h x 9"w x 9"d

Technique:
Traditional methods and materials: Cochiti red clay, white and red clay slip, wild spinach plant (black pigment).