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Nnenna Okore’s art embraces social commentary through recycled material installation
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Twisted Ambiance, Nnenna Okore, courtesty of artist's website
Currently on view at the Chicago Cultural Center’s Michigan Avenue Galleries until October 2009, Nnenna Okore’s Twisted Ambiance incorporates newspaper, rope and twigs. Her unique vision is inspired by the combined influences of living in Chicago and her childhood experiences in Nsukka, in southeastern Nigeria. The struggles of poor Africans who by necessity recycle everything influenced the selection of materials for this work. Incorporating her social awareness and textile skills into dynamic structure, this work invites the viewer to look into the methods of construction, and social constructs via the nature of her material. Twisted Ambiance interprets space with reference to intimate spaces, shelters and natural structures, while exhibiting her strong craftsmanship in the details of texture and her beautiful handling of chaotic patterns.
The artist states of her experiences in Nsukka, “I was drawn to simple sights of bare-footed children appropriating toys and hunting tools from scrap objects.” Marked by the repetition of forms which does not become predictable, her forms have utilized media such as discarded objects and found material, and often involve wax, cloth, clay, rope, and sticks. Okore “[applies] various repetitive and labor-intensive techniques, like weaving, twisting, sewing, dyeing, waxing and rolling, which were learned by watching villagers perform everyday tasks. These processes accentuate colors, textures and other visceral qualities of [her] sculptures.”
A Gallery Talk is scheduled for Thursday, September 12th at 12:15pm with the artist on site. The Chicago Cultural Center is located at 78 East Washington Street, Chicago, Illinois. For more information about the center: www.chicagoculturalcenter.org
For more information about this exhibit: egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/portalContentItemAction.do
For more information about the artist, visit her website at: www.nnennaokore.com/index.html
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