Akinsanya Kambon, born Mark Teemer in Sacramento, California, is a former Marine, Black Panther, and art professor who lives and works in Long Beach. Kambon served in Vietnam as a Marine infantryman and combat illustrator. Upon returning to the U.S., he joined the Sacramento Chapter of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense and served as its Lieutenant of Culture. Kambon’s lifetime of service and artistic practice document suppressed histories and express the beauty of African heritage through drawing, painting, and sculpture. In 2023, Kambon won the prestigious Mohn Award given by the Hammer Museum for his participation in Made in LA 2023: Acts of Living. His life, work, and mission will also be the subject of a documentary film The Hero Avenges to be released in 2025. Kambon will be the subject of an upcoming one-person exhibition at the Sculpture Center, New York, in May of 2026.

Kambon’s rich body of work is influenced by his Pan-Africanist beliefs, developed through his extensive travels through Africa beginning in 1974. Kambon explains, “I’ve looked at African spirituality and I like to incorporate what I’ve learned into my own work. My biggest influences have been my travels to Africa.” The show will include ceramic vessels, figures, and wall plaques that combine American historical narratives with African sculptural traditions.

To create his ceramics, Kambon uses a Western version of the Japanese Raku firing technique which adds a metallic luster to his glazed surfaces. This method of firing, which traps smoke in an enclosed space to interact with the glaze, produces an uncontrollable transformation which Kambon considers a spiritually guided aspect of this practice. He conducts kiln firings with a ceremonial approach, infusing life into figures that often embody African deities, spirits, or figures from American or religious history. His work, deeply rooted in narrative tradition and shaped by his personal experiences, celebrates themes of resilience through adversity, cultural pride, and his talent as a storyteller.