MAGDALENE ODUNDO

CERAMICIST

‘The Chapel is like a jewel – on the scale of a sculpture, not a cathedral – and yet feels monumental when you stand inside it. Mary Watts was British, but the way this building brings together life, death and rites of passage is very African. Here, the human spirit can be felt between the terracotta bricks, which were made by local people in pottery classes Watts gave in the village. Celtic, Romanesque and Egyptian symbols decorate the walls and ceilings; there are Arts and Crafts influences too, and it is surrounded on every

side by Englishness, all of which creates a sense of universality. For me, only a woman could think of this: the notion of the tree of life, the angels, sharing a love of making and touching the lives of those around her. It is both a work of art and a living community,

inhabited by the soul of the woman who made it possible.’

‘Magdalene Odundo: The Journey of Things’ is at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts

(www.scva.ac.uk) until 15 December.