King Houndekpinkou’s ceramics meld African and Japanese traditions

If it were not for Japanese video games, Franco-Beninese ceramic artist King Houndekpinkou might never have found his true calling.

A lifelong gamer, he became fascinated by the people and culture that produced his favourite childhood games (Zelda: Ocarina of Time among them). When he finally visited Japan as an adult, a chance encounter with a local artist put ceramics on his radar.

Later, while considering a career change, Houndekpinkou signed up for a ceramics workshop with a Japanese master in Paris – an epiphanous experience that ‘triggered emotions and dormant thoughts’, many related to his roots in Benin.

‘It’s as if for 24 years I had accumulated thoughts, ideas and experiences that didn’t have the right outlet to be expressed or to be materialised,’ says Houndekpinkou. ‘And then ceramics came into play and I feel like it’s the right medium where I can channel all that content into something.’

Now nearly a decade on, Houndekpinkou is making his UK debut at Collect art fair (26 February – 2 March) with 50 Golborne, a London-based contemporary art gallery that explores the intersectionality of Africa and the African diaspora within a virtually borderless world. At the fair, which is taking place online on Artsy.net this year, he will be showing at least six pieces of past and new work.

‘All [my work] gravitates around the idea of the vessel as a sculptural base, featuring added textures and details emphasising their “sacred” posture,’ Houndekpinkou explains. ‘My endeavours reflect challenges and opportunities that are specific to African diaspora artists of my generation evolving in a “connected” world where culture slides much easily from one border to the other, influencing ways of artistic expressions.’

The objects he plans to show at Collect are richly hued and intricately textured. Each form juxtaposes motifs from traditional Beninese ritual vessels with the whimsy of contemporary Japanese visual culture. Houndekpinkou cites animator and Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki as an influence; he has also recently been playing Ghost of Tsushima, an action-adventure game set in medieval Japan.

Animism, which has African and Asian incarnations, is a consistent through-line. Even the medium is a melange: Houndekpinkou blends commercial clay bodies with earth from places he’s travelled to, from Germany and Japan to the American midwest.

Each piece begins at the wheel, where Houndekpinkou throws cups, bottles, plates, bowls, and vases. These component parts are then conjoined into nonfunctional Frankenstinean ‘totems’ that simultaneously attract and repel viewers.

‘They’re attractive, but at the same time, they’re very defensive,’ he says of his pieces. Some have spiky protrusions, modified and multiplied iterations of the spikes that adorn some West African ritual vessels. Many are glazed or painted in colours like cobalt and neon green that animals use to attract mates – or repel predators.

Houndekpinkou intentionally exploits colour, form, and (non)function to create a tension between viewer and object – a frisson of energy he can redirect into future work. ‘I get so much energy from people and that feeds my work,’ he explains.

Collect 2021 will take place online on Artsy.net from 24 February, with works on view and commissions available until 26 March. Over the coming weeks, we’re meeting the makers making their debut at the fair – watch this space.