Artist
Magdalene Odundo
Kenya/Britain
Body as vessel. Burnished to perfection.
She studied pottery around the world—then created forms that seemed to exist outside time.
Magdalene Odundo was born in Kenya, trained in England, and studied traditional techniques in Nigeria, Kenya, and New Mexico. She absorbed it all—then synthesized something entirely her own. Her vessels are human: they have shoulders, necks, bellies, hips. Built by coiling, burnished with smooth stones, fired in sawdust, they carry the memory of African traditions while belonging to no single culture. Each piece takes weeks to complete.
What traditions might you synthesize into something new?