Untitled, no. 5

The artist created the glistening black surface of this vessel by firing multiple times and meticulously burnishing, or rubbing, by hand. Dame Magdalene Odundo’s distinctive vessels, constructed with a coiling technique that is thousands of years old, are informed by a range of pottery traditions from around the world. The artist builds upon these long-standing ceramic styles while exploring the relationship between vessels and the female body. Created as individuals, no two Odundo vessels are the same. "Man seems to have come from this earthly material. You come from it, and you go back to it. It is life and death. And that’s the beauty of clay." —Magdalene Odundo, 2022