May Artist of the Month: Ebere Agwuncha

owoko

Work by Ebere Agwuncha

owoko is an interactive installation honoring Igbo women through an ongoing ritual centered around the element of water. ebere uses the historic Comfort Station site as grounds for owoko, the first iteration of the series Creating Care-filled Igbo Architecture(s)*, through the use of ceramics, natural fiber, and wood. The exhibition features the process of ebere crafting the architecture(s) that are on display. A video piece shown is an assemblage of various archives, historical sites, ebere’s hands, and interviews. The viewer can see beyond the architecture(s) that may appear as final works in the space, and interpret each item as an ‘object of process’, with some items evolving past their current state in the show. 

This installation embodies the historic formation of the Circular Stepped Pyramids in Nsude (Northern Igboland); the ceramic-woven vessels exhibited replicate the linear uli formation parallel to the primary window within the space. These bodies sit in sunken soil to replicate the traditional owoko, a water pot installation, that was designed and produced by Igbo women - prior to Nigeria’s independence from Britain in 1960.The vessel centered amongst the five vessels is a soundscape and water reservoir. It is activated through an ongoing ritual practiced alongside ebere’s family who journeyed to a nearby stream to ‘fetch the water’ for the vessel. The viewer is encouraged to continue filling the center vessel with a water offering as they first enter the space. owoko is a collective meditation and is activated to remind us of our invisible access to clean water. 

*Creating Care-filled Igbo Architecture(s) celebrates the intersections of architecture, design, craft, and art in the Igbo sphere (and beyond) through a dexterous practice exploring various inquiries including: food preservation, visual literature, rainwater collection, and extrusion/intrusion architecture. The word architecture(s) has been adapted to also include object design, functional structures, and visual literature. This is a series started by ebere agwuncha in 2021.

Artist Bio

ebere agwuncha is a designer, maker, and artist based in Chicago via Anambra State, Nigeria. Her dexterous practice aims to hybridize various craft and materials including wood, ceramic, and natural fiber. Through creating ‘care-filled architecture(s)’ and speculative installations, they aim to preserve Igbo stories through more expansive iterations using a diverse set of techniques. She pushes the cusp of perfection - or imperfection - while intimately using her hands to physicalize ideas. ebere is currently developing a series Creating Care-filled Igbo Architecture(s) which celebrates the intersections of architecture, design, craft, and art in the Igbo sphere and beyond through exploring various inquiries. The word architecture(s) has been adapted to also include object design, functional structures, and visual literature. ebere’s work aims to push an approach of “hybridity” as a method to acknowledge varying cultures, narratives and practices for building our present-futures.

ebere holds a degree in Industrial Design degree from Iowa State University and is currently an inaugural artist-in-exchange with the Sculpture Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for the spring of 2022. owoko will be their first solo exhibition at the Comfort Station (Chicago, IL) this May of 2022.