Nneka Osueke is a visual artist who glides across various mediums, most notably painting and sculpture, to depict themes of African history, spirituality Black empowerment, and the human mind. A first generation Nigerian born and raised in Dallas, Texas, she received her Bachelor's in Fashion Merchandising from Sam Houston State University in 2013. Shortly after, Nneka moved to Los Angeles, CA to begin her career in design, but surprisingly, found herself pursuing a Master's in Clinical Psychology and her artistry full-time. Thus, she discovered the golden bridge between her purpose and her passion--merging art, African psychology, and mental health advocacy together.
Osueke’s work has been exhibited in solo and groups shows both in the United States and internationally including Miami Art Basel Week, Sam Houston State University, the Manifesta Biennial in Palermo, Italy, the Liguanea Arts Festival in Kingston, Jamaica to name a few. She has given speeches and artist talks in Los Angeles and at the University of the West Indies, Mona.
Theory & Practice
Much of Nneka's work is rooted in the study of the Alkebulan (Africa) and it's undeniable impact on the global unconscious, mind, body, and spirit. The creative process includes extensive studies of biology, philosophy, spirituality, and cosmology on both her heritage and other cultures worldwide.
Nneka pulls both the ancient and modern day worlds together using naturally-occurring pigments, precious metals, such as 24 karat Gold, age-old and contemporary artistic practices to highlight the primitive connections Ancient African cultures had with elements of nature. She fuses plaster sculptures of hands and papier mache' moldings onto canvas to create what she dubs "5-D works", bringing life, movement, and enticing dimension from the canvas. For her, these works symbolize the move past a "boundary", into one's purpose by taking matters into one's own hands. Texture, abstraction, collage, photography, and sculpture are used to lure out the unconscious, toying with that which reveals and hides itself in, cycles through, torments, and frees the human psyche. She dives head first into her practice with the belief that we, as individuals, are reinventions of an ancient soul somewhere in the history of time and already know many ideas we think we don't know; what is called the unconscious. The mission for Nneka is to create work which nags the viewer into searching for their Truth.
