IBRAHIM MAHAMA. A SHEA GARDEN

A floor covered with a field of crushed terracotta, from which intact vases emerge like flowers. The objects come from northern Ghana and their forms have been transposed into transparent, impalpable Murano glass that contrasts with the dense, opaque clay; the two materials coexist, growing from the same soil.
Mahama constructs the installation like a garden, evoking something that cannot sustain itself but requires nurturing, like two ancient traditions at risk of extinction: Ghanaian terracotta and Murano glassmaking.