Portrait photo by Carolina Porras-Monroy; "Igba II" (2023), photo by Nate Mumford

Funlola Coker

Funlola Coker is a sculptor from Lagos, Nigeria. Funlola’s work follows research threads in the realm of recollection, imagination, and the surreal. Embracing the literary style of biomythography, Funlola builds narrative sculptures that call on nostalgic memories and moments of the mundane held dear. Liminal spaces are explored in the context of Yoruba cosmology and Africanfuturism. Using materials and techniques based in craft, these sculptures suggest dream-like and half-remembered spaces, yet sacred.

Coker’s work has been exhibited at the Fuller Craft Museum, TONE Gallery, the National Ornamental Metal Museum, including a solo exhibition at Brooklyn Metal Works. Collections include Brooklyn Metal Works and the National Ornamental Metal Museum. Coker has received awards such as the Thayer Fellowship from the SUNY Rockefeller Institute of Government (2022), and the Society of Arts and Crafts Craft Innovation Jumpstarter Award (2023), and the Boston Center for the Arts Coker holds an MFA in Studio Art from the State University of New York at New Paltz.

Funlola Coker’s three-year BCA Studio Residency is supported by Wagner Foundation.