Marcela Adeze Okeke

Marcela Adeze Okeke (b. 2000) paints, draws and sculpts those she is committed to. The artist views her creative practice as one of totem-building. Her paintings, often depicting her Nigerian-American family members and herself in repose surrounded by colorful dreamscapes, reflect her personal search for belonging and peace while navigating the disjuncture of diaspora, (inter)generational trauma, personal myth and magic. Her commitment to care and community extends into her collaborative practice with unhoused artists at Red Line Service in Chicago and as an arts educator at Cook County Juvenile Detention Center, where she co-creates works exploring radical care and resilience.

Starting as a self-taught acrylic and oil painter, Okeke has since incorporated dyed textiles, block printing, rope-knotting, and cement sculpture into a multidisciplinary practice. The artist has shown at the Chicago Cultural Center, Museum of the African Diaspora, Lubeznik Center for the Arts, the Old Stone House in Brooklyn, Freeport Art Museum, and internationally at Nafasi Art Space in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Her paintings have been featured in New American Paintings and Chicago Reader, and her prints have been distributed internationally by the UN Human Right to Adequate Housing Campaign. Okeke is a previous resident artist at Nafasi Art Space and Vashon Artist Residency, with an upcoming residency at Mendocino Art Center.