Oami Powers

Lives and works in Raleigh, NC, USA

Artist statement

I make sculpture, installations and drawings. My work explores themes of memory, nostalgia, grief, and place. Raised in California and New Zealand, my experiences of cultural transition deeply influence my practice. Since 2020, I have focused almost exclusively on clay as a material. I am deeply fascinated by this ancient and humble medium which at its core requires just three elements—mud, hands, and fire. Wet clay has a tenderness, and fired clay a bony-ness, that has a lovely resonance with the ideas central to my work: the vulnerability and resilience inherent in the human experience.

Artwork