Precious Okoyomon is an artist who deconstructs soft toys as the primary vehicle of her narrative. Her inspiration stems from poetry, mostly her own. She attributes the collection of the stuffed animals to how many times her family moved - even migrating countries. She says that it grounded her by teaching her to exist in many different worlds, creating a deep understanding of how identity is formed and transformed. She combines cuteness and the absurd or creepy to elicit an emotional response from the viewer. She creates a narrative about the familiarity of childhood and the discomfort of confronting childhood trauma. She calls her ‘Bears’ unkillable angels, suggesting vulnerability and resilience.
I am drawn to her ideas because she challenges convention - juxtaposing elements that usually don’t belong together, creating thought-provoking responses. I recognise a similar desire in my own practice to attempt things that are not the norm - such as combining materials and techniques that argue with each other. Okoyomon’s approach encourages me to explore these tensions in how I communicate a narrative of living with trauma as it resides in our minds and bodies.
Okoyomon states, “everything feeds into one another,…, the death makes the soil healthy, which then brings new life.”(1) This resonates with my fascination with the lifecycle of a flower. Once it is cut from the branch, it begins to die, yet in that process, the colours change and deepen. They are no less beautiful than when they were first grown. For me, this becomes a metaphor for how the difficult, ugly decay and loss can produce resilience and new growth.
Still from youtube clip
Precious Okoyomon, ONE EITHER LOVES ONESELF OR KNOWS ONESELF, Exhibition view second floor Kunsthaus Bregenz, 2025, in the belly of the sun endless, 2025 | photo: Markus Tretter © Precious Okoyomon, Kunsthaus Bregenz courtesy of the artist and Kunsthaus Bregenz
Precious Okoyomon, It’s Important to Have Your Fangs Out, vue d’exposition, Galerie Mendes Wood DM, Paris Courtesy de l’artiste © Mendes Wood DM, Paris