Florian Okwu is a visual artist and designer. He works in a variety of mediums, exploring sculptural forms, architectural & abstract illustrations, as well as digital environments. Florian leans on the notion that his artistic practice, much like nature, follows an evolutionary path constrained by chaos, intuition, and basic desires. Through life and work he considers and struggles with balance, as both a literal & physical ideal through form (symmetry, composition, weight), as well as through his role in an industrialized world so deeply rooted in mythologies, extraterrestrial futures, and the often mysterious mechanisms which drive our imaginations, deaths, and dreams.

Artist Statement

“Among all forms of creative expression, carving is my favorite. It engages the entire self, blending mind and body into a single-purposed tool. I discover a deep appreciation for humanity through it’s labors,  immersing myself in the roots of civilizations and, fundamentally, the core questions of what it means to be a human being. From sensual satisfactions and physical toils to meditative and philosophical addictions, the carving process is laced and overflowing with mental dances, relationships and secrets...

Most alluring to me is the three dimensionality of sculptural works, their presence: When our minds choose to engage with objects as more than their materials, to imbue them with souls, the way we do for people, animals, or places... Sculptures offer artists opportunities to reshape the fabric of this world, creasing it in ways to reveal their relationships with the world around them. These objects come to life and, like you or me, learn to inhabit their bodies. Like us, a sculpture is limited by its form, but these limitations are the doorways to understanding its relationship with the world. In shape there are subtleties; Hidden seeds embedded into every form which grow for each person a different tree. There is no one meaning for the abstract works I make, it’s impossible! Meaning is made in my intention to create, and renewed in every eye which finds it.”