Florian Okwu转å‘了
A little over a week ago I dropped off my most recent sculpture and drove through a winter storm with my girlfriend to get home at 2AM. The freeway cars were a caravan and my California tires were sad and squelchy but it was nevertheless an exciting adventure. Importantly though, (and for taxes sake) it was a business trip. It took this delivery to emphasize to me that I am, in fact, a self-employed artist. Sometimes it feels like cheating, it can also be incredibly stressful, but this is what I set out to do when I graduated from college and for that it’s incredibly rewarding. As a matter of fact, I didn’t think it was possible to sell fine art without gallery recognition or exterior funding, but here I am! I’ve been at it for the last 9 months thanks to extremely supportive clients (commissions and direct sales), through which I’ve been paying for my studio, apartment, and every other part of my life. I think the realization marks an incredibly important chapter in my career and is something I wanted to share. I feel so grateful, and although I don’t know what the future holds, things are going the way I want them to go right now and I’m determined to keep it that way. Anyway, here is the newest piece, hand carved from a single block of walnut over 135 hours (table is separate, obviously): “Being II†by Florian Okwu