Osa Atoe
I started taking community pottery classes in 2013 when I was living in New Orleans, quickly became obsessed with the medium and made a small at-home studio for myself in the spring of 2015. Since then, I moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, expanded my studio and began a one-year post-baccalaureate program for ceramics at Louisiana State University. My bachelor’s degree is in Sociology with a minor in Women’s Studies and I’ve always been a musician, so discovering pottery changed the course of my life. While I make my pottery, I often relate my activities to that of some other woman in ancient times, anywhere in the world, working at a steady but unhurried pace to create a batch of pots that she will sell or barter at market. As someone who is sensitive to the turmoil in the world, I like to imagine a time (that surely never existed) when everything was simpler. Working with clay places me in that imaginary zone even if just for short moments at a time, even as I deal with the realities of money, politics, digital technology and bureaucracy just like everyone else. My work grounds me and connects me to the 20,000 plus years that humans have shaped forms from clay and fired them to make ceramics. As I’ve re-entered into the academic world, I hold tight to that imagined ancient sense of simplicity of intention while I develop my craft.