FLORIAN OKWU
Pets are original sculptures* hand-carved by Florian Okwu...
I like to keep the forms intuitive. Their size offers an opportunity to speak fluently through material, where new curves appear as fast as they were considered, giving each Pet its own unique, quickly-evolving personality. Between collections I’ve teetered on my affections towards these little creatures but I keep coming back to them... They bring something wholesome to my work while re-contextualizing the spaces they find themselves in. Its the little things, like briefly seeing my desk as a sprawling landscape dotted with towering structures and small wandering creatures... The Pets engage the imagination with a mythological flavor, one that brings me back to childhood, that's what I appreciate the most.
I first began working on my Pets as a means to experiment with new materials. Their original shape was made from a simple combination of elements: A crossvault belly which softly extended into their thin legs; While on top, a convex bulging surface that met a single, perfectly circular head. Each of these characteristics allowed me explore, in a contained way, how it felt to work with the material from start to finish: The smell of the dust, its hardness against a knife or file, flexibility, polishing... They were a kind of baseline, so it really was a suprise when they were met by so many positive reactions. I followed this, and a couple months later ended up selling out an entire collection over several hours.
In the two years since I’ve sold just over 80 pets, each handcarved from a variety of materials, including stone, graphite and wood.
There have been some hiccups along the way and I’ve spent a long time this year re-considering my relationship with the little ones... Suprisingly it wasn't letting them go that caused me problems, but making them! Unchecked, its so easy to fall into the groove of making the same thing again and again, happy to exchange hands while unintentionally losing sight of original intentions. These pets began as experiments and as art and I want to keep it that way. This most recent collection is an attempt to push it even further: Every piece its own personal sculpture, entirely distinguishable from the next; Each practice of finish, form, and a development of my artistic vocabulary. This is how I plan to move forward, additionally using the Pets as an opportunity to sketch, play, and collaborate with the world around me, opening the door to partnerships with other artists and designers of all kinds to create unique sculptural objects. I'm hoping to use the pets as an gateway, adjacent to my often isolated scultural work, into the broader artistic community as well as a means to sustain my place inside it.
Hand-carved Mahogany, Wenge (Experimental Graphite Techniques):Sold (9 of 10), 2025
Hand-carved Bloodwood:Available for purchase on www.okflo.com (2025)
White Bronze, Walnut:Sold (Commissioned Work), 2025
Mahogany with Graphite Finish:Sold, 2024
Mahogany, Black Walnut Burl, Maple, Spalted Tamarind:Sold (15 of 15), 2024.