Stare at one of Magdalene Odundo’s vessels for long enough and you start to wonder if you might just have seen it breathe, its rounded belly imperceptibly expanding. The ceramic artist has often talked about the “body-ness”, as she puts it, of her pots, but standing close to one is to be struck by how alive they feel. Her current London show at Thomas Dane Gallery, comprising six vessels, is Odundo’s first solo exhibition in the capital for 20 years. It’s a continuation of her show earlier this year at Houghton Hall, the stately home in Norfolk. Odundo has found new recognition in recent years – a significant 2019 Hepworth Wakefield exhibition, and she showed at this year’s Venice Biennale. Her work set a new record price for a living ceramicist when one of her vessels sold for £200,000 in 2020, the same year she was made a dame.
If Odundo’s professional life is at a high, her personal life has been difficult in recent months, after a period of ill health, and recovery from surgery. It has been tough, she says, but adds with a laugh: “I’m still standing – just about.” Her mobility has been affected, and she thinks it will be another few months before she can get back to her clay. How is she coping? “Not very well,” she says with a smile – we’re talking over Zoom, Odundo at home in Farnham, Surrey. Although she says she’s tired, she laughs often.
