Nigerian born Nnenna Okore’s three dimensional wall hangings are like candy to any textile-lover’s eye.
Earthbound, clay, burlap, rope
The Assistant Professor and Chair of the Art Department at North Park University, Chicago walks through the streets of Chicago searching for discarded materials, taking them home to add to the growing stash she dyes, waxes, weaves, sews and twists until satisfied with the resulting sculptural textiles.
Strata, clay, burlap, rope
Okore uses newspapers, plastic, yellow pages from the phone book, magazine pages and other materials, often securing clay shapes to burlap with rope in repetitive patterns. The hanging, draping effect of these cloth sculptures is mesmerizing. Most of the images shown here show the clay and burlap sculptures, but the found found paper sculptures are quite compelling.
found paper, rope
“I am fascinated and often surprised by material transformations that result from ammassment, layering and multiplicity of smaller parts and units.”
View the entire Clay Series for the full effect of the work.
See more of Okore’s portfolio here.
Read an interview with the artist here.
