Florian Okwu is an artist from San Francisco, CA, currently based in Providence, RI. Although curious to further explore materials like graphite, stone, and metal, he has fallen in love with wood and works with it to create delicate, complex hand carved sculptures.
Having grown up in San Francisco, Shanghai, and Los Angeles as a multiracial child, Florian learned to draw influences from the physical world rather than any specific cultural or national identity. Through his work, he creates his own culture: A personal vocabulary of forms, populated by companions and celebrations that mark time’s passage. His work serves as a crucial aspect of his identity and allows him to develop a deeper understanding of beauty and purpose in his life.
Florian graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in May 2024 and has worked as an independent fine artist ever since. His sculptures often take shape over multiple months, preferably in solitude, in a space where he can come to know each piece as if it were a person or creature of its own. For Florian, this sense of “identity” within an object is what ultimately determines whether a piece has succeeded or failed.
His “Pets” are a sub-species of his fine art practice, created under the pseudonym okflo. These creatures carry the same attention to symmetry, care, and craftsmanship as his larger sculptures, distilled into smaller, more intimate forms. They act as a type of artistic baseline, allowing him to explore and understand the properties of various exotic materials, as well as bring more eyes to his name without revealing too much of the inner workings of his more intimate work. Still taking anywhere from 5-20 hours, Florian’s pets are much easier to make than his larger pieces and thus far more affordable, giving him a chance to share his work—and his values of expressivity and material devotion—with more people.
Despite any conceptual divisions within his artistic practice, Florian approaches every single piece with care and love. Each piece he creates is a reflection of himself and submits to the plain and simple artistic responsibility of putting more “good work” into the world than bad… For Florian, “good work” is work that does justice to the materials from which it was made— that he would never consider trading for all the time it took to make.
For all questions, please reach out to:
studio@florianokwu.com
Group Exhibitions
04/2024 - Neither Confirm Nor Deny, Woods-Gerry Gallery, Providence RI
04/2024 - Black Biennial, Gelman Gallery, Providence RI
02/2024 - Living Urn, Gelman Gallery, Providence RI
01/2024 - Rubrica, Gelman Gallery, Providence RI
11/2023 - Sculpture Triennial, Woods-Gerry Gallery, Providence RI
08/2023 - Communing with Nature, CSSC Nature Trail, W. Rutland VT
07/2023 - Release Point, Gordan Marshall Coping Shop, W. Rutland VT
05/2023 - Dogs Breakfast, Weybosset St Gallery, Providence RI
04/2022 - Small Works Show, Memorial Hall, Providence RI
03/2022 - The Stories Objects Tell, Joukowsky Institute for Archeology, Providence RI
Education
Rhode Island School of Design, BFA Sculpture 2021-2024
Emerson College, BA Business of Creative Enterprising 2018-2020 (transfer)
Lycee International de Los Angeles, International Baccalaureate 2013-2018
Work Experience
Independent Fine Artist - Self-Employed - 06/2022 to Present
Woodshop & Coldshop Monitor - Rhode Island School of Design - 01/2023 to 06/2024
Resident Intern - Carving Studio & Sculpture Center - 06/2023 to 09/2023
Creative Director - TradeUp - 05/2022 to 11/2023
Design Consultant - Cultray Venray - 11/2019 to 12/2019