Untitled
Date: 1988
Dimensions:
H: 15 ¾ in. (40 cm); W: 10 in. (25.5 cm)
Medium: Burnished and carbonized terracotta
Classification: Ceramics
Credit Line: Purchased with the Mr. and Mrs. George M. Jones, Jr. Fund, in honor of Carolyn M. Putney
Object number: 2014.39
Label Text:Art is intuitive; it is the essence of being human.
Kenyan-born artist Magdalene Odundo’s style is very much influenced by African metalwork and American Southwest ceramics. This work from 1988 was created after several trips to Kenya and Nigeria as well as to New Mexico, where she saw Puebloan black wares being created.
Odundo hand-built this vessel from terracotta clay using a coiling technique. To achieve the rich black color, she burnished the clay, covered it with slip (thin liquid clay), then burnished it again. It was next fired in a kiln in a high-oxygen atmosphere, which turns the clay red-orange. A second firing in a low-oxygen (reduction) atmosphere turned the vessel black. The gray/black tones of this piece are probably the result of partial reduction during the firing process. The exact outcome of firing is uncontrollable, adding a small element of chance to the artistic process.
Her process and the relationship of her vessels to the human form reflect pottery traditions in sub-Saharan Africa.
Kenyan-born artist Magdalene Odundo’s style is very much influenced by African metalwork and American Southwest ceramics. This work from 1988 was created after several trips to Kenya and Nigeria as well as to New Mexico, where she saw Puebloan black wares being created.
Odundo hand-built this vessel from terracotta clay using a coiling technique. To achieve the rich black color, she burnished the clay, covered it with slip (thin liquid clay), then burnished it again. It was next fired in a kiln in a high-oxygen atmosphere, which turns the clay red-orange. A second firing in a low-oxygen (reduction) atmosphere turned the vessel black. The gray/black tones of this piece are probably the result of partial reduction during the firing process. The exact outcome of firing is uncontrollable, adding a small element of chance to the artistic process.
Her process and the relationship of her vessels to the human form reflect pottery traditions in sub-Saharan Africa.
DescriptionThis black burnished terracotta vessel stands over a foot tall and has a rounded body with a somewhat mottled surface and a narrow neck that flares out almost into a funnel shape with a wide banded opening at the top.
On view
In Collection(s)