Artist Research

Potter: Osa Atoe

The potter I looked into was Osa Atoe. Her business grew out of her very own kitchen in New Orleans, Louisiana in 2015. Since then it has expanded to a full-sized studio garage space at her current home in Sarasota, Florida. Prior to taking her first pottery class at the age of 34, she played in various punk bands for 15 years touring the United States and Western Europe. She had always loved art but never thought she would be where she is today. She states in a video that she looks at many different styles of artwork and her audience views it as multiple different styles. She appreciates that her artwork isn’t just focused on one culture since it allows her to expand on more techniques and styles.

One question I have is how did she learn all of these techniques so easily since she is still somewhat of a beginner? How long does one of her pieces take to make? Why has she stuck to red clay and not branched out to use other types of clay? Even though in her video she said it makes her feel connected to her culture, why hasn’t she tried another type of clay? One last thing that I wonder is what type of glaze she uses since she does leave areas where she has carved the natural clay color.