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Untitled, 7 new pieces, created especially for a solo exhibition, Magdalene Odundo (10 exhibits in total)

This new body of work marks a return to ceramics following fellowships during which I worked primarily with glass and print. The impact of this sojourn is evident in the form, surface and scale of these seven new works, which were exhibited in 2013 alongside the three vessels that make up the Gango series I–III of 2010.

The creative development of my work is most apparent in the contrast between the old and new pieces that constituted the 10-piece exhibition. The scale of the new work is more monumental and less domestic than the earlier pieces. While the new work is still hand built, the forms are more individual and have an anthropomorphic sculptural quality that rejects the more familiar rhetoric of ceramics concerned with vessels and glazes. Having been created for the specific gallery space, the new work is less ‘pot like’ in its irregular three-dimensionality and demands that the viewer move about it in response to its faceted figuration.

A significant feature of the new work is its refined and polished surface, achieved through the development of new techniques and practices. The scale and complex form of the pieces demanded new ways of working its surface. Whereas previously I have tended to dip and pour pieces in slip, with this work I used an industrial spray gun to build up multiple layers of slip. This required the development of a new slip made of much finer particles and the addition of a flux to enhance its adhesive qualities. Once complete, these surfaces were heavily buffed rather than burnished to create a surface that, in spite of a more complex form, enhances the simplicity of the work.

All seven of these pieces were sold – six into private collections, and one is in process of acquisition for a national collection.