"I am thinking, I have an idea, I am working." - Seyni Awa Camara.
As mentioned in my last post, these wonderfully totemic ceramics are currently on display alongside the equally wonderful paintings of Michael Armitage. Armitage rather graciously gives over space in his exhibitions to showcase the works of lesser known African painters and craftspeople that influence his own work. I felt however that even though both sets of works complemented each other, these extraordinary terracotta ceramics (some as tall as 8 feet), deserved a post to themselves as they are so complex and beautiful. Camara was raised by her mother who was a potter/ceramicist too and taught her certain sculptural techniques with clay as a child. Camara though claims to have gotten lost in the local forests with her brothers and whilst there was protected from danger by the genies of local Wolof gods who taught her to work the earth to make pottery. "We were sheltered by God's spirits who taught us to work with clay", she has been quoted as saying. Whether true or not Camara's terracotta figures are certainly very different from the creations of other local potters, being the products of stories, local events and her dreams. Amazingly enough Camara is actually in her late 70s and still creating these large pieces in Senegal. They are modelled in the yard in front of her house with the aid of assistants and then fired in an open-hearth kiln. Enjoy.
London
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