Eugene Agyei

Lives and works in Galesburg, IL, USA

Artist statement

My practice explores identity, migration, and the concept of home through material histories. I create sculpture, installation and performance that combine ceramics, batik fabrics, yarn, wood, and found objects, forming layered structures that serve as vessels for memory, ritual, and the emotional landscapes of diasporic displacement. My approach is informed by postcolonial theory, material culture studies, and global migration discourse. I am particularly interested in how personal and historical narratives intersect within materiality and how sculptural assemblage can articulate the ongoing negotiation of cultural identities. Through form, color, and texture, my work evokes the tensions and harmonies experienced in navigating multiple cultural frameworks. I begin with clay, a medium deeply connected to the earth and my Ghanaian heritage, which preserves the imprint of my touch and embodies both personal and collective experience. Employing Ghanaian coil techniques and mixed-media assemblage, I integrate batik fabrics, yarn, wood, and found objects to construct forms that reflect the complexities of displacement, adaptation, and belonging, creating a dialogue between presence and absence. By engaging with the layered histories embedded in my materials and recontextualizing everyday objects, I invite viewers to reconsider notions of belonging in an interconnected world—prompting reflection on what it means to migrate, dwell in between, and negotiate the fluid terrains of...

Artwork