Cary Okoro is an inter-disciplinary artist and filmmaker based in Michigan, whose work explores themes of nature, memory, traum a and identi ty. Balancing concepts of precarity with visions of recovery and reclamation, Okoro examines the relationship between our well-being and that of the natural world. Layering nature imagery with figures and/or narratives that are contorted, abstracted or destabilized, Okoro interrupts traditional modes of image-making and storytelling. This disruption is intended to question dominant narratives—about beauty and worth, power and belonging, wellness and wholeness—and encourage viewers to consider alternative perspectives.
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Okoro received her BFA and MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) and is a member of the Director’s Guild of America (DGA.) Her paintings, photographs and mixed-media work have been exhibited widely and are in collections across the US. Okoro’s personal documentary about the devastating effects of Alzheimer's disease, "Something Should Be Done About Grandma Ruthie," aired on PBS, won numerous awards and has screened internationally. She is the recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Illinois Arts Council, ArtPrize, The Puffin Foundation and many others.
Installation: We Reach Across the Same Blue Sky
"We Reach Across the Same Blue Sky refers to the underlying connection of human beings to each other and to nature, ultimately the deepest forms of belonging."
We Reach Across the Same Blue Sky is a visual meditation on migration, culture and identity. Using images and text from my family’s rural history in Switzerland and Sweden and my husband’s rural roots in Nigeria, this work explores how the journeys of those who came before impact our developing sense of identity and belonging.
Working in charcoal and washes of aqueous paint, portraits and landscapes from our family histories are punctuated with handwritten lines of text, photo transparencies and deep blues and greens that flow onto the wall space, echoing the changing landscape of identity. The title, “We Reach Across the Same Blue Sky,” refers to the underlying connection of human beings to each other and to nature, ultimately the deepest forms of belonging. Showing at the Muse GR ArtPod, 128 Louis St. NW |
Series: Every Imprint Leaves a Mark
"I am interested in how our experiences shape who we become and imprint on our being. I hope this work connects with those who struggle to find their place in the world, to take the marks that we carry and transform them into self-understanding."
In the series, "Every Imprint Leaves a Mark," portraits of everyday activities—our son walking the dog, our daughter on a nature hike—are layered with imagery from the rural villages in Nigeria, where my husband was born, and Switzerland where my relatives were farmers. The gold color from traditional Nigerian clothing made for my husband, yet interestingly manufactured in Switzerland, shows up in the radiant color of our son's hoodie and the stitching on my daughter's clothing, a connecting thread. Details from the built and natural landscape fuse, bringing memories of place, time and those who came before.
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