For greater than 5 a long time, Dame Magdalene Odundo has reshaped the world’s understanding of ceramics, not merely as decorative art or craft, however as an mental and deeply human apply. Born in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1950 and now based mostly in the UK, she is thought for her burnished surfaces, sensuous curves, and an nearly lifelike presence. In recent times, her affect has expanded past museum partitions and into excessive trend, cementing her standing as some of the influential ceramics artists of our time.
But Odundo’s journey didn’t start with clay. Initially, Odundo skilled as a graphic artist in Kenya and later in India. Her early schooling was rooted in visible communication and design, disciplines grounded in precision and readability. In 1971, she moved to England, intending to review business artwork on the Cambridge Faculty of Artwork. Nonetheless, curiosity and a rising need to experiment led her towards night lessons in metalwork and etching, and ultimately, pottery.
The second clay responded to her arms, her trajectory shifted irrevocably.
What started as tactile discovery quickly advanced into cultural inquiry. Between 1974 and 1975, Odundo traveled by Nigeria and Kenya, studying hand-building and low-firing methods from native ladies potters. She additionally studied blackware pottery in New Mexico. These experiences grew to become foundational, shaping a signature language: hand-built, unglazed vessels burnished to a luminous glow, drawing from African, European, Indigenous American, and historical ceramic traditions.
Training, Educating, and Enduring Affect
Odundo’s educational rigor mirrors the self-discipline of her studio apply. She earned a BA from West Surrey Faculty of Artwork and Design (now the College for the Artistic Arts) earlier than finishing an MA in ceramics on the Royal Faculty of Artwork in 1982.
Thereafter, she lectured on the Commonwealth Institute, the Royal Faculty of Artwork, and the College for the Artistic Arts, the place she later retired as a professor in 2015. Nonetheless, her dedication to schooling didn’t finish there. In 2018, she was appointed Chancellor of the College for the Artistic Arts, and in 2020, she was named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for companies to arts schooling, having beforehand obtained an OBE in 2008. These honors replicate not solely her creative excellence but in addition her lasting affect on generations of makers and thinkers.
The Vessel because the Human Physique
On the middle of Magdalene Odundo’s apply is the vessel, without delay useful and metaphysical. These varieties stand in for the human physique: fragile but resilient, formed as a lot by vacancy as by construction.
Working completely by hand, Odundo employs historical coiling methods, progressively constructing every bit earlier than meticulously burnishing its floor. Throughout firing, her signature oranges and blacks emerge naturally, with out glaze, preserving the clay’s porosity and tactile integrity.
Importantly, the silhouettes evoke the physique itself. Slender necks recommend spines; swelling bellies recall breath or being pregnant; delicate asymmetries echo human imperfection. Drawing from civilizations including ancient Egypt, the Cyclades, Aztec cultures, and Yoruba and Zulu traditions, her vessels really feel timeless. They resist pattern, but stay unmistakably up to date.
Museum Recognition and Market Ascension
For the reason that Nineteen Nineties, Odundo’s work has entered main institutional collections, together with the British Museum, the Artwork Institute of Chicago, and the Metropolitan Museum of Artwork. Curatorial respect preceded market validation, but the latter ultimately adopted.
In 2020, a 1990 vessel tripled its estimate at Sotheby’s London, promoting for £723,900 (almost $1 million). The consequence marked a major second, positioning ceramics firmly inside the fantastic artwork market’s higher tiers.
Subsequent solo exhibitions on the Hepworth Wakefield, Sainsbury Centre, Fitzwilliam Museum, and Excessive Museum of Artwork additional secured her world standing. In the meantime, her debut at Xavier Hufkens in Brussels, which included each new ceramic works and her glass piece Transition II (2014), demonstrated her willingness to experiment whereas sustaining outstanding consistency.
Trend Unites with Ceramics at Dior
In January 2026, Odundo reached a completely new viewers when her work grew to become a central reference for Jonathan Anderson’s debut couture assortment as inventive director of Dior.
Staged on the Musée Rodin in Paris, the Spring/Summer time 2026 high fashion present, titled Grammar of Varieties, built-in Odundo’s sculptures instantly into the presentation. Anderson drew from her silhouettes, terracotta palette, and burnished textures, translating them into pleated robes, voluminous skirts, and sculptural outerwear.
The gathering was extensively praised for its craft and cultural depth. On the similar time, it sparked essential conversations about attribution, compensation, and the ethics of artist–trend collaborations. For a lot of observers, the second represented long-overdue recognition of latest African and diasporic artwork inside excessive trend.
Nonetheless Rising, Nonetheless Grounded
Now in her mid-70s, Odundo stays firmly rooted in her studio apply. Regardless of renewed world curiosity in ceramics, she resists pattern cycles. As an alternative, her work continues to attract from enduring themes: migration, id, vulnerability, and continuity. Whether or not working in clay, bronze, glass, or graphite, her course of stays gradual, bodily, and contemplative.
Finally, Magdalene Odundo unites previous and current, artwork and craft, physique and object. By means of her vessels, type turns into language that resonates throughout cultures and generations. In her arms, ceramics usually are not merely formed; they’re given breath.
Featured picture: Cristian Barnett for The Arts Society
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