Nnenna Okore

Donated by the artist and October Gallery

"Bisi was a vital force in ensuring that we all got heard."

"My work broadly focuses on ecological concerns that are specifically related to waste, carbon emission, and energy consumption. Using plant-based materials (in particular, food scraps and food waste), I create bioplastic which is made into large sculptural forms and art installations. By using biodegradable materials derived from food waste in my work, I not only aestheticize or problematize the waste issue, I also contribute to its solution, by making materials that procure less waste, and pose little risk to the environment. To further extend the dialogue about waste with the public, I conduct social engagements, by inviting people into my studio to engage in my creative research with the bioplastic material as a way of generating learning, creative encounter, and ecological awareness. In so doing, I enable dialogue, narratives, and experience to intersect with my creative and material practice, in a way that is edifying, informative, and transformative for me and the participants."

Nnenna Okore’s intricate works contain rich textures, and reveal extraordinary manifestations of colour and formations, often resembling organic elements in nature, such as roots, veins, and flora. Each visceral sculpture is created through various repetitive and labour-intensive processes, like teasing, twisting, dyeing and sewing, applied to natural materials such as cheesecloth, burlap and paper.

Okore is a Professor of Art at North Park University, Chicago. She has a BA in Painting from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and both an MA and MFA from the University of Iowa. Okore first showed at October Gallery in 2008. She is a 2012 Fulbright Award recipient and has exhibited internationally. Her works have been featured in several important exhibitions such as Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, USA; We Face Forward, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, UK; Africa Africans, Museu Afro Brasil, Sao Paulo, Brazil; and When the Heavens Meet the Earth, The Heong Gallery, Cambridge, UK. In 2018, her major installation Sheer Audacity, was exhibited at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, USA. Her work is in many international collections, including the World Bank, Washington DC, USA; Newark Museum, New Jersey, USA; Fondation Blachere, France; and the Embassy of the United States, Abuja, Nigeria.