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Eugene Ofori Agyei’s sculptures do not sit still. They reach, coil, and unfurl—gestures in clay, batik, yarn, wood, and the layered histories of things gathered, held, and transformed. Born in Ghana and now based in New York, Agyei works at the seam between tradition and experiment, weaving together personal memory and collective history.
Agyei’s journey began in Kumasi, at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, where he earned a degree in Industrial Art. Later, in Florida, he completed his MFA in Ceramics, where his practice crystallized around the charged materiality of clay. Clay, for Agyei, is not merely a medium: it is memory, geography, and inheritance. It carries “the imprint of my touch,” and acts as a vessel for the emotional landscapes of migration and displacement.
Agyei’s rise has been notable. He has been honored with the Robert C. Turner Teaching Fellowship at Alfred University, two National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) fellowships, an Artaxis Fellowship, and the 2022 Pathways: Carlos Malamud Prize. His sculptures have appeared in group exhibitions across the United States—at the American Museum of Ceramic Art, the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, and the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, among others. Solo shows have taken him to the Rollins Museum of Art in Florida and North Dakota State University.
This summer, Agyei’s first international solo museum exhibition opened at Die Neue Sammlung – The Design Museum in Munich, part of the Duke Franz von Bayern Collection, running through early October. A forthcoming solo exhibition at the Alfred Ceramic Art Museum is slated for early 2026.
In person, Agyei’s works resist easy categorization. They are vessels, but also thresholds — between past and present, and presence and absence. He draws on Ghanaian coil techniques, layering fabric, wood, and found objects to craft assemblages that pulse with the complexity of diasporic life, using the histories embedded in the fabric to speak to the lived realities of the diaspora. Postcolonial theory and material culture studies inform his approach, but the works themselves counter academic stiffness. Instead, they hum with a tactile poetry, attuned to the resilience and improvisation that shape the migrant experience.
IN THE STUDIO WITH Eugene Ofori Agyei
Step inside the studio of Eugene Ofori Agyei, a Ghanaian-born, New York–based artist whose sculptural work bridges clay, fabric, wood, and found materials to explore themes of migration, memory, and belonging. In this intimate studio visit, Eugene takes us through his creative process—from the hand-coiling techniques rooted in his Ghanaian heritage to his thoughtful use of batik fabrics and everyday objects.
Visit Eugene Ofori Agyei's website to learn more: CLICK HERE
