Opening In the Gallery at Brooklyn Metal Works on Sept 9th, 7-9PM.
On View Sept 9 - Nov 4, 11AM-6PM.
We are also hosting an Artist Talk with Funlola Coker on November 4th, 3-4PM in the Gallery.
I am interested in what brings people together. Objects, offerings and acts of care towards one another. This shows up in my relationships with family - traditional and chosen. I examine how these gestures and phenomena live within our consciousness.
These sculptures are imbued with meaning through the history of their materials and representation of objects. Their careful arrangement alludes to a place just visited or forgotten, relics of lived experience and shared memories. Inspiration of form comes from sculptural braiding styles in Nigeria that I observed as a child, as well as calabashes and objects in my home.
My material choices are specific. Mounds are constructed from materials typically found in scene building. They allude to the dream-like quality of memories, and the half-remembered facsimile of what was once tangible. Alabaster - light and glowing, it grounds my objects, it is heavy, yet soft to the touch and delicate if scratched. Pewter can appear slippery, soft, and retains its liquid-like qualities when poured without too much restriction. The imperfect pours and fluidity glisten like half-remembered thoughts.
Through this body of work, curious objects are more than they appear to be. I am building a connection to home with tools of navigation. They are maps, memories, and relics from the slippery spaces and the mundane.
- Funlola Coker
Funlola Coker is a metalsmith from Lagos, Nigeria.
In 2007 Coker moved to Memphis, TN to pursue a BFA in Sculpture from Memphis College of Art. Funlola is fascinated by history, the evolution of culture and storytelling. Funlola creates narrative sculptures that call on nostalgic memories and moments of the mundane that are held dear. Coker has taught at notable craft institutions such as Snow Farm: The New England Craft Program and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.
Funlola’s work has been exhibited at Brooklyn Metal Works, the Fuller Craft Museum, Tone Gallery in Memphis and the National Ornamental Metal Museum. In 2020, Coker received the Arts Memphis Arts Accelerator grant, and was a 2022 Thayer Fellowship recipient from the SUNY Rockefeller Institute of Government. Funlola holds an MFA in Metal from the State University of New York at New Paltz.