Zainabu Usman Yusuf is a Nigerian clay artist and emerging potter whose work explores the connection between culture, identity, and contemporary ceramics. Through her platform clayandculture.ng, she draws from Arewa pottery traditions and reimagines them with modern forms and sgraffito decoration.
Since beginning her pottery journey, Zainabu has developed a personal style that blends functional and decorative vessels inspired by heritage, memory, and everyday life. Pieces like Butan Shayi and Zanen Tukwane honor Northern Nigerian craft traditions while expressing her evolving vision for African ceramics.
She sees clay as a language of storytelling, healing, and transformation, She believes our hands can be used for so many things—they hold no limit.
Alongside her studio practice, Zainabu is dedicated to community engagement. She has co-facilitated youth pottery workshops and participated in Art Exhibition, where she introduced children and visitors to the pottery wheel and creative clay processes.
Driven by cultural preservation and innovation, she works to connect traditional knowledge with new design ideas, contributing to the growing story of Nigerian and African pottery in the modern world.
I work with clay to honor the stories, traditions, and lived experiences that shape my identity as a Northern Nigerian potter. My practice blends cultural memory with contemporary design, allowing me to explore how everyday vessels can carry history, meaning, and emotion.
Through wheel throwing, hand-building, sgraffito carving, and experimental forms, I create pieces that reflect my environment and my connection to heritage. Clay gives me a language of expression. It grounds me, teaches me, and reminds me that the human hand is a powerful tool for both making and remembering.
My goal is to contribute to the evolving story of African ceramics by preserving traditional knowledge while imagining new possibilities for clay in the modern world.