Nnenna Okore's (b. 1975, Canberra, AU) artistic career is largely defined by her origins and life course. The daughter of two academics, she spent her youth mainly in the Nigerian city of Nsukka. The family lived on the college campus and the artist learned about local life in market places and the countryside. Nnenna Okore's sculptures and installations have absorbed and processed these impressions: mud houses with zinc roofing, piles of firewood against cracked walls, people in tattered clothing and coarse fabrics. The artist mainly uses repetitive and labour-intensive techniques, such as weaving and sewing. By using coarse fabrics and textures and eco-friendly materials such as clay, rope, fabric, sticks and paper, the work looks natural and organic. The creative process results in abstract and colourful installations with a theatrical touch.
