Temisan Okpaku

Temisan Okpaku
 
Born in London to a Nigerian father and a Dutch-Indonesian mother, the artist at a young age was keenly aware of cultural idiosyncrasies and fascinated by the divergences of a lineage spanning Africa, Asia, and Europe- now transplanted to America.   Drawing from the strength of the African art and the simple beauty of the Dutch ceramic work that animated the family’s home, the artist continues to fuse a wide range of influences into a personal yet accessible stream of work that navigates multiple levels of complexity.
 
Passionately following an innate curiosity Temisan pursued his formal education to several continents and disciplines with a focus on identity, both individual and universal.  After spending time studying at Harvard University, Temisan continued on to receive a degree in Philosophy from Georgetown University.  During this course of study the artist was drawn to Aboriginal Art and cosmology and traveled to the University of Sydney in Australia to deepen his understanding of the subject and integrate it into a developing interest in quantum physics.  While expanding the conceptual boundaries of his understanding and intention, the artist began refining and mastering the media that would communicate his vision. Honing his practice at The New School for Social Research, USC, San Francisco Art Institute, and UCLA, Temisan moved seamlessly through painting, photography, video, and sculpture; refusing to accept levels of traditional hierarchy, preferring a nomadic approach.   It is exactly the border and boundaries, both physical and conceptual, that he mines and explores.  “ I think of the things I make as vehicles capable of communicating intention and thought directly.  At times the works are the artifact of a journey and sometimes they are a journey; in a sense the works oscillate between being about something and just being.”
 
While his work has been shown in museums and galleries in Washington DC, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Paris and New Delhi, Okpaku continues to place work in the contextual flux of the street as well.  Aware of the relative meaning of context in art, Okpaku is engaged in the serious play of a developing Zen master.