Nnamdi Okonkwo

"My work is simplified and expressive of an inner largeness and capacity of the human soul. My emphasis is on aspects of our common humanity, which I find beautiful, noble, and even divine. It is my hope that my sculptures are, for many, a shrine of hope and inspiration."

There is a heroic capacity to humanity, and Nnamdi Okonkwo considers sculpture to be an avenue to express this quality. He chooses the female form because, in his indigenous culture, womanhood is venerated. In addition, he believes that supreme inner strength is best exemplified by womanhood. The voluminous shapes are aesthetically pleasing, while also serving to emphasize the largeness and capacity of the soul.

Okonkwo sculpts primarily by starting with clay or wax, and then casting the sculpture in bronze using the lost wax technique. He then applies a hot patina to the bronze using chemicals and compounds that are specifically formulated for bronze patination. The finished product is sealed with clear lacquer and then waxed and buffed.

Okonkwo first studied to become a painter and earned a college degree in that discipline. When he fell in love with sculpture, he enrolled again in college and earned both a bachelor's and a master's degree in sculpture from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.