ADAEZE NNAJI

Biography

Adaeze Nnaji (b. 1999, Enugu State) graduates from the University of Lagos in 2025. She learned pottery from her grandmother and has spent the past three years researching pre-colonial Nigerian ceramic techniques.

She works exclusively with locally-sourced clay and natural glazes. Her pieces reference ceremonial vessel forms from southeastern Nigeria.

Artist Statement

"I make pots the way my grandmother did, but I'm not trying to recreate the past. I want to understand what these forms meant and what they can mean now."

My current work looks at how pottery was used in Igbo households and ceremonies. I'm interested in the objects women made and used daily—things that weren't considered important enough to preserve in museums.