Artist Spotlight: Dawn Okoro
Dawn Okoro's work draws inspiration from fashion advertising and pop culture but, the difference you will notice between the two is the prevelance of "unconventional beauty."
In this interview with inCOLOR artist Dawn Okoro discusses the process of creating a piece of art, strong black women, and her favorite movies among other topics.
What message are you trying to convey through your art?
I reconceptualize glamourous images. I am extracting the essence of commercial fashion photography and presenting it in a different medium and context.
Your art features a lot of strong black women. Why is it important to you to feature black women in your art?
I have depicted strong black women in my art because I wanted to show a nonconventional beauty.
At what age did you discover your artistic ability?
I noticed my artistic ability at quite an early age - maybe around 4 or 5 years old. Art has always been something that has come naturally for me.
Describe the process of creating a piece of art. What is your initial idea and how do you go about carrying it out?
I begin with a feeling that I want to convey. This helps me determine the pose of the figure and the colors in the painting. I then photograph a model. From that point, I paint using the photograph as a source for the woman’s figure.
I noticed that you wear your hair natural and many of your portraits feature women wearing natural hair. Have you always worn your hair natural? If not, tell us about your transition. If so, tell us how your hair-care regimen.
The representations of natural women in the portraits may be a self-narrative. Growing up I hated my natural hair. The images that I was being fed by the media didn’t help. It wasn’t until I started college that I began to realize the beauty in natural kinks. Even then, I was too afraid to take the plunge. It took several years to finally realize that ‘it’s just hair.‘ Now I am comfortable wearing a short ‘fro one day and long, silky tresses the next.
You recently moved to New York City. How is it compared to where you lived in Texas?
So far, I am happy with my decision to move to New York after living in Texas all my life. Although Texas is a part of me, there is a lot of inspiration here in New York that I would not be able to experience in Texas.
If you could live in any era in time when would it be and why?
If I could remove the issues that black people struggled with in the ‘60s and ‘70s, I would like to live in those eras. I would have had a chance to experiment with some art ideas that now have already been done.
Is being an artist your full-time job?
In the past, I did work in a corporate cubicle and create art on nights and weekends. Now, art has been my full-time job for the past 3 years.
Since your work is influenced by pop culture, what are your top three favorite movies, books and television shows?
Movies: E.T., The Cell, The Color Purple
Books: Jane Eyre, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Assata
T.V.: The Office, Nip/Tuck, Desperate Housewives
List three words that describe you as an artist?
Vibrant, Biographical, Curious
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