Mustafa Ali Clayton, Kesia, 2021. Image courtesy of the Artist and Wilding Cran.
Mustafa Ali Clayton, the multidisciplinary artist known for his mirrored, caricaturized ceramic busts and the wooden assemblage plinths on which he displays them, reframes figurative traditions through his soft defiance of the legacy of classical portraiture. “The head is the most identifiable [body part] and has the most expression,"Clayton says of his signature busts.
The Los Angeles-based sculptor began his career as a painter, taking inspiration from Classical Realism and the Harlem Renaissance movement in order to create representational figurative works. It wasn't until he began to question, in the artist's words, "what makes something not look real," that his practice expanded into other, more organic, materials. Today, the artist says that his process is shaped by his ability to fail—a commitment reflective of his own resilience and, no doubt, the unapologetic nature of ceramics. “"Working with and firing clay is like a spiritual, educational experience," he says. "It has been a journey through process, a connection to clay by way of the human body.” Clayton takes popular culture as his inspiration, creating works both functional, such as Sea Chest Powhatten, 2021, a mixed-media basket with beaded handles; and decorative, such as his Air Max series of ceramic shoes. Much of Clayton's work is rooted in the contrast between the organic and the artificial, incorporating materials from the natural world (earthenware clay, wax, wood, and beads) into his high-gloss forms. They are occasionally staged alongside sculptures of domestic objects like cosmetic bottles and dishes, inviting viewers to further dissect the dialogues embedded within them.
