Meet the Artist: Nnamdi Okonkwo
Standing at 6 feet 9 inches tall, Nigerian-born Nnamdi Okonkwo has been interested in art for as long as he can remember, and he came to find that sculpture was his preferred medium. Nnamdi used basketball as his avenue to the United States when he was recruited by BYU Hawaii in 1989. At the time he had already completed a painting degree in Nigeria, and went on to graduate from Hawaii with a BFA in sculpture. Trading in the sunny skies for ski seasons he came to Provo, Utah to complete his Master’s degree in sculpture in 1997. It was there that he met his wife, Deidra. Nnamdi and Deidra now live in Fayetteville, Georgia with their three children.
Impacted by the loss of his father at an early age, Nnamdi wanted to express the feeling of unconditional love in his new sculpture, The Family. Speaking on his understanding of family in general and God's family in particular the Nnamdi said of this work:
“There is no way that I can put my name to anything that I don’t feel comes straight from my heart.”
"God wanted me to understand something about His love for me, so He gave me children and He gave me my family. When God asks me to love other like He love me, He means for me to treat everyone as if they were exactly my kin. The more I hold sacred this fundamental unit of society and then reach outwards to accommodate others, the more God is pleased with me, and He will indeed be as a father to me, as also we indeed all have a common Father in God."
