Ebitenyefa Baralaye is a ceramicist, sculptor, and educator whose work examines cultural, spiritual, and material translations of objects, text, and symbols through a diasporic lens. His practice engages the aesthetics of craft and design, using abstraction to explore identity, history, and meaning.
He received a BFA in Ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA in Ceramics from the Cranbrook Academy of Art. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at Friedman Benda (New York), David Klein Gallery (Detroit), Shoshana Wayne Gallery (Los Angeles), the Museum of the African Diaspora (San Francisco), and the Korea Ceramic Foundation (Icheon).
Baralaye has completed residencies at the Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts, the Hambidge Center, and the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts Studio Program. His work was included in the Objects: USA 2020 exhibition and catalog. He was an AICAD Fellow at the San Francisco Art Institute from 2016 to 2018 and an Assistant Professor and Section Lead of Ceramics at the College for Creative Studies from 2019 to 2024. He is currently an Assistant Professor at the Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan. Baralaye lives and works in his studio in Detroit, Michigan.