_Art Basel’s ‘Meet the artists’ series presents contemporary creatives shaping today’s cultural landscape._
In their work, invasive plants, sound, poetry, and food become tools for world-building
Through their work, poet and artist Precious Okoyomon explores the intricate interplay between nature, chaos, and regeneration. Raised in the expanses of Ohio’s Midwest, Okoyomon’s formative years were steeped in the natural world. ‘My first love is very much the Earth, the soil,’ they say in this new episode of ‘Meet the artists.’ The sentiment informs their multifaceted practice, encompassing installations, poetry, and culinary arts. Characterized by what they describe as an ‘organic flow,’ in their work each medium seamlessly intersects with the others to create ‘the endless poem.’
Their invasive garden installations frequently feature kudzu, a vine introduced to the American South post-slavery, which Okoyomon employs as a potent metaphor for colonization. The kudzu’s unrestrained growth overtakes a space, embodying themes of chaos and natural reclamation. ‘What dies, dies. What grows is sprung up inside of that. And the beauty of everything is that it regenerates,’ they explain, underscoring the cyclical nature of their practice.
The film was captured in Precious’s Catskills studio, part of the now-shuttered Unclebrother – a car dealership transformed into a summer destination for art and food by Rirkrit Tiravanija and Gavin Brown. The poem read by Precious in the film is titled ‘The World Is Breaking in Flowers the Breath of Things’.
Precious Okoyomon’s work can be seen at Fondation Beyeler’s ‘Dance with Daemons’, May 19 – August 11, 2024. They have also co-conceptualized the show. Their work is also on view as part of the Nigerian Pavilion at the 60th Biennale di Venezia.
Production
Director: Billie JD Porter
Cinematographer: Stephen Tringali
Assistant Camera: Editor Joe Lee
Colorist: Loren White
Music: Jason Termini
Art Basel
Executive Editor: Coline Milliard
Senior Editor: Alicia Reuter
Video Commissioner: Jeanne-Salomé Rochat
Creative Producer: Akiel Gallina
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