Naa Kordai Addy is a ceramic artist based in Oakland, California, known for her handmade lamps and pendants.

Her practice centers on clay and the traditions of craft. She is drawn to the point where art meets everyday objects, and she makes lighting that is both sculptural and made for daily use. Her work is slow and tactile, with each piece shaped, glazed, fired, and wired by hand.

Her work is shaped by themes of history, cycles, and the discovery of light after difficulty. Each loop or ring represents the baggage a person carries. Rather than seeing this weight as a burden, she invites us to bear it like armor, something to be proud of. The work is a reverence for life and its many triumphs and challenges. Through lamps and pendants made with care and patience, Kordai explores how weight and light can share the same room.

Kordai learned lampshade making from veteran maker Sue Johnson, working on the floor of Johnson’s long-running North Berkeley shop. That apprenticeship gave her a technical grounding in handmade paper shades and taught her how people live with lamps and what they want from them.