Nnenna Okore
Artist’s Profile
Born in Australia and raised in Nigeria, Nnenna Okore has received international acclaim for her richly-textured sculptural forms and installations. She reconfigures organic or discarded materials into amorphous structures of extraordinary range and nuance. Okore is keenly sensitive to the rhythms and contours of everyday life. The repetitive acts of stitching, twisting, rolling, or weaving; the familiar sounds of sweeping, chopping, talking, and washing, all deeply inform her aesthetic, as they signal both the transience of women’s labor and its inevitable mark on the material world.
Remains, 2016.
As a full-time academic and young mother who understands the challenges of thriving artistically in a male dominated field, Okore strives to maintains a active creative track record, as a means of inspiring young and upcoming artists hindered by cultural and gender barriers, around the globe. With a focus on female artists, she engages in workshops, panels, talks and mentoring activities targeted at empowering young artists, especially from West Africa.
Somewhere deep within, 2016.
Artist Statement
My work broadly focuses on the concepts of recycling, transformation and regeneration of forms based on observations from ecological and manmade environments. I am drawn to uniquely diverse and tactile characteristics of the collective physical world. I am astounded by natural phenomena that cause things to become weathered, dilapidated and lifeless – those events slowly triggered by aging, death and decay – and subtly captured in the fluid and delicate nature of life.
Ututu, 2016.
My materials are biodegradable and comprise largely of old newspapers, found paper, ropes, thread, yarn, fibers, burlap, dye, coffee, starch, clay, etc. Through manually repetitive techniques as mirrored in both natural and mechanical reproductions, my processes of fraying, tearing, teasing, weaving, dyeing, waxing, accumulating and sewing allow me to interweave and synthesize the distinct properties of materials. I systematically deconstruct and reconstruct my media to yield subtle transformations of visual complexities. And much like impermanent earthly attributes, my organic and twisted structures mimic the dazzling intricacies of fabric, trees, barks, topography and architecture. All my processes are adapted or inspired by traditional women’s practice, the African environment, third-world economies and recycled waste.
White Whispers, 2016.
I desire to heighten through my works, a perception and appreciation for colors, textures, undulating contours, movements and the mystic occurances within our ethereal world.(text website artist)