Magdalene Odundo in-conversation with William Feaver

Magdalene Odundo was born in Nairobi, Kenya, and received her early education in both India and Kenya. She attended the Nairobi Polytechnic to study Graphics and Commercial Art and moved to England in 1971 completing qualifications in foundation art and graphics at the Cambridge College of Art.

In England she discovered pottery, and in 1974–75 she visited Nigeria, attending the Pottery Training Centre in Abuja, and Kenya to study traditional hand-built pottery techniques. In 1976, Odundo received a BA from West Surrey College of Art & Design before earning a Masters degree at the Royal College of Art in London. She taught at the Commonwealth Institute in London from 1976 to 1979 and at the Royal College of Art in London from 1979 to 1982, before returning to teach at Surrey Institute of Art & Design (now University for the Creative Arts) in 1997, becoming Professor of Ceramics in 2001. In March 2016 she was inaugurated as an Emerita Professor of UCA.

Odundo's best-known ceramics are hand built, using a coiling technique. She uses the same types of techniques used by the ancient Greeks and Romans and likes to take inspiration from countries like China and Mexico. Many of the vessels Odundo creates are reminiscent of the human form. Her work may be found in museum and private collections worldwide. She lives and works in Surrey.

© Magdalene Odundo / image courtesy of the artist