A refined ceramist, Magdalene Odundo produces works with voluptuous shapes and sparkling surfaces. Rolled by hand and scraped with a pumpkin, Odundo’s objects are the result of a laborious process linked to the tradition of ceramic production in sub-Saharan Africa. She contaminates these objects with languages belonging to European antiquity to create a transglobal and transtemporal visual system which is modern but at the same time ancient, African but resolutely Western. “I have always compared clay to humanity within ourselves, because it is as fragile as our bodies. It can tip over. You keep it on your tips, but if you push only slightly on the wrong pin, it will break your heart.” (M.O.)
