Dawn Okoro

"I just decided to give up on art. I liked making work, but I think I had a vision of what an artist was. I thought there would be less struggle and anxiety. But it's impossible not to see art in your life. You really can't avoid it, it's everywhere."

"Where I grew up, people heard of (Pablo Picasso) or whatever, but my family was kind of like, 'That's a nice hobby, but you need to go be a doctor or a lawyer or engineer."

"In my heart, I knew I wanted to do art, but there was still that drive to feel like I'm actually doing something with my life in a way that my family would understand."

"It felt like something was missing. After maturing, seeing life and experiencing the death of people close to me, it kind of felt like life really is short and I need to start living and I started small from there."

"When I watched the episode where Jennifer Beals said my name and showed my painting, I squealed a little. I’m happy to see some of my goals begin to come to fruition. There is so much more that I can do with art. I’m just getting started."

"It's taken me years to come to that conclusion, and there are still some times as an adult when those feelings creep in again. But I think just doing my art has helped me a lot, and getting my art out there lets me know it's OK just to be who I am."

"To me, a punk spirit is just living freely, disregarding societal norms and just being free to be themselves."

"Whatever I make is for myself first. And when I do that, it naturally resonates with whoever else it is also for."

"I wanted so badly just to fit in and assimilate with what was acceptable. Which is hard because I felt like I was sticking out like a sore thumb. I wanted to be invisible."

"I want my work to be accessible in different ways, more ingrained into other pieces of culture, other than just being on white walls. I want to expand my reach, because when people find my work and they feel a connection and they get it, then I feel like it was for them as well."

"I want people to walk into the exhibition and feel like they belong. I hope they can feel the sense of movement and see themselves reflected in the pieces."

"I like her (Okoro) confidence and her ability to engage with people, take chances and trust in the process of things. Her future is really bright and her work is uplifting."

"When I first saw Okoro, I thought she was amazing from the get-go, and everything she's doing now is just reinforcing that. I love the way she's constantly exploring her work. She doesn't stay in one place."