Nnenna Okore is best known for her fiber sculptures with intricate textures that reference organic elements such as plants, roots, or veins. She explores themes of environmental decay and renewal in her sculptures and paintings, highlighting concepts of transience and transformation. Okore was born in Australia to Nigerian parents and lived her formative years in Nsukka, Nigeria. She received her BFA degree from the University of Nigeria in Nsukka in 1999 and obtained her MFA degree from the University of Iowa in 2005. Upon graduation, Okore began teaching at North Park University in Chicago, where she currently serves as the Chair of the Fine Art Department.
Her works have been exhibited in more than 100 exhibitions worldwide over the past two decades and are part of several notable collections, such as the World Bank Art Collection, Washington D.C.; the Newark Museum, New Jersey; Fondation Blachère, Apt; the Indianapolis Art Centre, Indianapolis and the Royal Collection, Abu Dhabi. Recently Okore’s work has been shown at Expo Chicago, Chicago (2018) and Memphis Brook Museum of Art, Memphis (2016), among others.