Aminata Conteh
Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Aminata Conteh is a Metalsmith whose practice draws inspiration from the intersections that exist between her lived experiences as a first generation American and her Sierra Leonean lineage. Presently, her work hybridizes the histories and traditions of Metalsmithing & Jewelry with weaving and basketry, investigating the act of holding space for the intangible. Conteh holds a BFA in Metalsmithing & Jewelry from MECA&D. She is the recipient of a 2021 Wingate Lamar Fellowship from the Center for Craft, A 2022 SNAG Early Career Artist, and currently works as the Marketing and Communication Coordinator for Indigo Arts Alliance.
Statement:
Assembling the histories between her experiences as a first-generation American and her Sierra Leonean heritage, Aminata Conteh’s work investigates the biographical act of holding space for both. The baskets are cultural objects that retain meaning through her memories, and family legacy, designed to hold the intangible. They bear the weight of memories, breath, and people--those that are absent, and those that are lost.Metal provides a structural skeleton that shifts the tactility and longevity from traditionally perishable basketry materials. Utilizing the techniques of coiled basketry common in Sierra Leonean fanner baskets and the Gullah sweetgrass tradition, Conteh uses steel and nickel to preserve memories through the physicality of the metal. The adjustment in materiality transforms the objects from something soft, pliable to being sensually resilient. Conteh’s process of working through the storytelling aspects of her crafted objects is deeply invested in the interconnection between basketry, memory, and material. The vulnerability of these baskets become responsive vessels that aid in working through love, interconnected relationships, and grief.
