Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Chelsea Mcmaster. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Chelsea, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I am working on Wadadli Folk, a project that records and preserves traditional pottery practices on the island of Antigua. The project is vital to me for two reasons.
Afro-Antiguan pottery is a women-led pottery practice with a 200-year-old history that traces back to West Africa.
Post-emancipation, it played a significant role in providing household essentials for its formerly enslaved population, and it also instilled an entrepreneurial spirit in women giving them a form of economic freedom that was unheard of at that time. Today, the tradition is severely declining, with only two surviving practitioners. I am working with those two women to ensure there is a detailed record of their practice and their oral histories.

When I started seriously thinking about what I wanted to make work about, I began by searching for a place to ground myself within the ceramic medium. I started by looking where I grew up and found that there was a whole pottery history I knew nothing about. What began by collecting stories from my parents turned into a hunt for information, access to these women and then a need to mitigate its decline.

Chelsea, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a ceramic artist; the objects I make hold stories, memories, and everyday occurrences that arn’t traditions yet but may become rituals centuries from now. Through the language of Black hair, I explore the idea of the braid as an artifact that exists uninhibited by time and space. Contemplating lived experiences in a black body, I hold space for objects forged through communal history-making. Using materials and processes in relationship with the artistic traditions of the African diaspora, I communicate the connection between place, identity and women as collectors and keepers of knowledge. Each object I make is an exercise in preservation for an undetermined future or reshaping a forgotten past.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

There is nothing more rewarding than pushing through the constant challenge of creating something wholeheartedly and then having that intention fully reach the people it was meant for.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

It took a long time before I could call myself an artist. I knew for a longtime that I wanted to do something creative with my life. However growing up in Antigua, there really werent many examples of how to make that happen. I just thought that it was not a viable option for me. I had to unlearn the notion that it was an irresponsible choice and convince myself that I could make it work. The current step in that process is working through the anxiety that comes with uncertainty, understanding that becoming the artist I need to be will happen in my own time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.chelseamcmaster.art
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chelseablu95
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmcmaster0295

Image Credits

Working Photo By Caitlin Brown
Artwork documentation By Emily Woo