Lawson Oyekan at Blackwell, The Arts and Crafts House

Blackwell, the Arts and Crafts House presents the first solo exhibition of British-Nigerian artist Lawson Oyekan in a UK public institution in two decades. The show gathers the artist’s works in clay: sculptural vessels created in connection with particular places.

Oyekan’s work can broadly be described as being about life, with clay being the symbolic material of the creation of everything. His forms can be large and imposing while also maintaining a quality of fragility, consistent with his conceptual concerns. 

The vessels are often covered in marks, tiny holes, scratches (fascinatingly described by him as “organic in nature rather than tortured”) and inscriptions in English and Yoruba. In fact, place – both as part of his history and current home – are the key inspirations behind Oyekan’s work. He often works with clays that are local to the regions he inhabits and uses them to hand-build sculptures, where large surfaces are often left dry and unglazed. As well as his own experiences, he incorporates those of others, often people that he comes across on his travels.

Oyekan often cites the similarities between his pieces and the spiritual vessels of Benue Valley. Born in London and brought up in Nigeria, his own works seamlessly combine Nigerian tradition with a Western materials, becoming a powerful statement on ancestry, the sense of belonging and the beauty of being able to draw on your own heritage.

His love for clay began with porcelain wheel throwing which led to the development of his own techniques in hand-building, and eventually the characteristic aesthetic that we can see in the work today. The show at Blackwell, The Arts and Crafts House charts the artist’s career and the development of his interests and style, while a brand new film by French photographer Zavier Lambours provides a more intimate glimpse into Oeykan’s creative process.