BIO

I use red stoneware clay, I carve as my main mode of surface decoration and I fire my work in an electric kiln. I work with red clay because it reminds me of ancient pots made of earthenware. I carve and stamp my surfaces for the same reason--these were the earliest modes of pottery decoration.  My approach to ceramics is that of a child of Nigerian immigrants living in a post-colonial and global reality. The United States is a multicultural nation and our daily lives are comprised of an amalgamation of various immigrant and indigenous influences. I want my pottery to reflect this, so I combine aesthetics from disparate regions and eras, from the Ibos of Nigeria to ancient Cypress, from the Acoma and Pueblo to early Han Dynasty China, to create a rich and widely accessible body of work. However, at the end of the day, as it’s all translated through my hands, it doesn’t look like anyone else’s work but my own. Lastly, my pottery is people-centered and I envision it in homes rather than in the context of a gallery. It is for that reason that themes of temporal and human universality are important to my work. The pots I make highlight our commonalities rather than our differences and in that way are symbols of idealism—a visual & tactile respite from the division, acrimony and injustice of the world. 

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