Osa Atoe is a Nigerian-American studio potter using her work to honor the heritage of African continental and diasporic ceramicists who molded pots for sustenance, ritual, and community. Form and surface decoration techniques link Atoe’s pottery to a lineage extending back to Nigeria, where her parents immigrated from in the 1970s. She also draws inspiration from elder ceramicists such as David MacDonald, Jabulile Nala and Nigeria’s most renowned potter, Ladi Kwali. Given Atoe’s lack of exposure to any evidence linking Black people to ceramics within educational clay contexts, her work stands as the culmination of years of independent research and study.

Through her focus on Black clay cultures, Atoe manages to find a universal language in clay—one that speaks across cultures. Her African- and nature-inspired pottery is a testament to our shared humanity. Atoe’s pottery creates points of connection that highlight our commonalities rather than our differences, a balm in our increasingly polarized society. She believes her pottery manifests as symbols of idealism, and are a visual and tactile respite from the division, acrimony, and injustice of the world.