Born in Queens, Sana Musasama acquired her name while traveling through Gambia and Sierra Leone in the 1980s. Two chieftains whom she helped paid her for her caregiving services by giving her their names, “Musa” and “Sama,” which she adopted formally after returning to New York.
Musasama also has a master’s degree from Alfred University — the American cathedral of crafts and clay — but global elements, including African and Southeast Asian textile motifs and patterns, are embedded throughout her stunningly impressive hand-built ceramic sculptures at Eric Firestone.
Together, the sculptures in “Raised Earth,” as the exhibition is titled, look almost like a village, which is fitting, since most of the works are from the “House Series.” The individual works are capped like a roof, multifaceted, or elongated like a tower. And they have striations, spikes, frieze-like bands and almond shapes that suggest eyes watching over the village.
They remind me of Beverly Buchanan’s “shacks,” except that where Buchanan used American vernacular architecture as her starting point, Musasama’s wide travels and interest in adornment characterize her works. Starting with humble clay, she injects history and traditional practices into it, and more than a bit of magic. MARTHA SCHWENDENER