What Survives the Fire: Larry Ossei-Mensah on Clay, Curating, and Creative Excellence

Independent curator, cultural critic, and co-founder of ARTNOIR, Larry Ossei-Mensah, joins us for a deeply reflective dialogue on his dual identity as a high-profile champion of the arts and a dedicated ceramic artist. Larry pulls back the curtain on his stunning debut ceramic solo exhibition in New York, What Survives the Fire, and shares invaluable wisdom on the patience it takes to build a practice that stands the test of time. Whether you are an emerging creator navigating the contemporary landscape or an established practitioner looking to protect your studio time, this conversation is a rich, peer-to-peer exploration of what it truly means to live a life dedicated to art. In this episode, Larry and Kat discuss the shift from photography and global curatorial projects to discovering a profound, tactile language in ceramics, how clay continually humbles you and why that is a beautiful metaphor for life, practical strategies for protecting studio time while balancing high-profile community work, making decisions driven by intuition and discernment rather than spectacle, how strategic international travel and cross-cultural dialogue shape a creative practice, and why doubling down on maker culture is one of the most important things we can do right now. Connect with Larry: Instagram: @larryosseimensah ARTNOIR: @artnoir.co | artnoir.co All About Clay: @allaboutclayny Subscribe to our Substack for exclusive behind-the-scenes articles, exhibition highlights, and digital resources: createmagazine.substack.com Ready to share your work with the world? View our latest open calls at createmagazine.co/call-for-art