DINA NUR SATTI

Ceramic Artist Brooklyn, NY

PHOTOGRAPHY
Fujio Emura

DINA NUR SATTI

Dina Nur Satti is a ceramicist whose practice is both intuitive and meditative, shaped by the cultural rhythms of her heritage. Working primarily by hand through coiling, her pieces emerge slowly—guided less by plan and more by instinct, memory, and a deep engagement with material.

We sat down with Dina to talk about the relationship between hand and heart — how objects can carry something immaterial, how taste is felt rather than defined, and how a creative voice is developed through surrender and attention. Rooted in ritual, storytelling, and research, her work reflects a sensual, lived-in understanding of form. OSSOU is something she reaches for in much the same way— instinctive, grounding, and shaped by a quiet confidence that evolves over time.

Dina wears the Rider Jean in Loam Wash
Dina wears the Rider Jean in Loam Wash Shop Now

OSSOU: How has where you’re from shaped how you see art, objects, and ceramics?

Dina Nur Satti: Being from Sudan and Somalia I grew up with traditional ceramics used daily. Incense burners and water storage vessels are all made out of clay.

O: What is being an artist, for you?

DNS: Capturing something immaterial and making it material. 

O: What is taste?

DNS: Good taste to me isn’t defined by an aesthetic it’s in the ability of an artist to transmit something authentic. It’s in the energy that a piece exudes and the intuitive proportions and balance that an artist captures.

O: Is it innate, or can it be taught?

DNS: I wouldn’t say taught but more developed. Even if it comes intuitively to someone it still has to be developed. Everyone has their own superpowers they are born with and the challenge is to figure out what comes naturally to you and develop your vision from there.

I find it best to surrender to the work that naturally comes through you instead of attempting to create the work you think you should be making. 

Dina wears the Bends Jeans In Dusk
Dina wears the Bends Jeans In Dusk Shop Now

O: How did you develop yours?

DNS: I come from two very aesthetic cultures. I find that so many aspect of Sudanese and Somali cultures as I experience them are very sensual. 

The landscapes are poetic, the food culture captures so much history and storytelling, the music is deeply emotive and trance-inducing. 


O: Where do you go for inspiration?

DNS: Mythology, storytelling, plants and the rituals that come with them. 

O: How do you research?

DNS: I collect books and academic papers and use them to find points of connection that help develop my ideas for pieces I’m working on. 

O: Where do you begin?

DNS: I usually just follow whatever thought I first have or line of curiosity and it leads me to a discovery. 

O: What do you do with the blank page, or the first lump of clay?

DNS: I don’t plan what I’m making or sketch in advance. I spend a lot of time researching themes and putting together ideas and they usually materialize into a piece as I’m making it. I let the clay tell me where it wants to go.

O: What’s unexpected about how you work?

DNS: People are usually surprised when they find out I don’t use an electric wheel. I handmade my work using the coiling method.

Dina wears the Haze Shirt in Sage
Dina wears the Haze Shirt in Sage Shop Now

O: What is the relationship between your hands and your heart?

DNS: I remember once reading that the heart and hands are connected, so I feel like whatever I’m feeling or carrying in my heart will translate into the work.

O: What do you feel, and what do you think, while making?

DNS: I usually try to go into a zone where my awareness feels expanded and I’m in a space of heightened listening. It’s in that space that I see flashes of where the clay wants to go. 

O: What makes a ceramicist truly skilled?

DNS: When they have found a voice that is theirs. 

O: What makes a pair of jeans feel like yours?

DNS: When they mold to my body and I’m able to move in them without restriction.

O: What turns a pair into that pair?

DNS: When I feel guilty about how often I’m reaching for them!

Dina wears the Greer Tank in Ecru
Dina wears the Greer Tank in Ecru Shop Now
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DINA NUR SATTI for Ossou
PHOTOGRAPHY Fujio Emura

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