How Austin Artist Dawn Okoro Painted Her Way to International Success

When artist Dawn Okoro was a young girl growing up in Lubbock, Texas, she leafed through the pages of “Ebony” and “Jet” magazines, inspired by the glamorous shots of Black models wearing the latest runway fashions. She started sketching her own fashion-forward world and longed to be an artist, but her family didn’t travel much, and she had no real-life examples to follow. She remembers sitting on the floor of her Austin apartment as a young adult, making art while devouring every episode of “Sex and the City.”

Even well into her 30s, through decades of school and day jobs, Okoro had no idea her paintings would one day be featured on “And Just Like That,” grace the pages of some of the magazines she once worshiped, and be included in the permanent installation of Meow Wolf Houston.

“It’s sometimes surreal,” says Okoro. “I think back on myself as a little girl or a teenager, and think, ’Wow, this is something that I wanted, but I couldn’t really fully visualize that when I was younger.’”

Growing up, Okoro’s family encouraged her to pursue a sensible, sustainable career, so she went to college at the University of Texas at Austin, then earned a law degree at Texas Southern University. Later, she worked as a journalist. Even though she never stopped making her vivid, chromatic paintings, it was challenging to keep her dream of being an artist alive. 

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Roshi by Dawn Okoro

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Conflict by Dawn Okoro

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Antithesis by Dawn Okoro

“I had dabbled in pursuing art throughout that time, but I became frustrated with the hustle of trying to have an art career,” says Okoro. “So, at one point, I just gave up and decided, I’m just not going to do art anymore. I’m going to focus on my nine-to-five, and that’ll be that.”

Several years passed, paintbrush down, before she experienced a deep grief that shook up her world when both her biological father and stepfather passed away in quick succession.

“It makes you wake up and realize that life really is short,” she explains. “We don’t know how much time we have left, so we might as well live it to the fullest. That inspired me to start to get back into art.”

Around 2016, after working full days as a journalist at Spectrum News Austin, she’d pick up her paintbrush whenever she had the energy. She wanted to quit, but she had bills to pay. Then, things finally started to change.

“A turning point for me was my ‘Punk Noir’ solo exhibition here in Austin at the Carver Museum,” says Okoro. “I was able to get a little bit of recognition from some national publications and definitely recognition here locally.”

“Punk Noir” centered the revolutionary spirit of the Afropunk and Afro-futurism movements. Drawing on the artistic styles of Barkley L. Hendricks and Andy Warhol, as well as the adinkra symbols of her Nigerian Igbo heritage, Okoro painted portraits of Black creatives against backgrounds of loud, joyous color, often dancing or showcasing their style — Dawn Okoro likes to begin by photographing her subjects wearing their own clothing, giving them a sense of agency. The successful show helped open long-shut doors, and her momentum kept building as the pandemic brought even more opportunities to show and sell her work. Finally, in 2021, when she had too many art projects to handle on top of working full-time, she quit her day job. 

“It was a scary and hard decision, but I finally decided to put in my two weeks notice and dive fully into the artwork,” she says. “And that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.”

Today, Dawn Okoro’s work has been shown in dozens of galleries and art shows, from Christie’s New York to London’s Maddox Gallery. Her art has been featured in publications like “Essence” and “W,” and her paintings have graced the small screen on shows including NBC’s “Law and Order: Organized Crime” and, of course, Max’s “Sex and the City” reboot, “And Just Like That.” She has partnered with major brands like PepsiCo, and Austin’s CapMetro featured her “Kool-Aid Drawings” on city buses, something else she now has in common with Carrie Bradshaw. 

For her next big project, Okoro spent the summer driving back and forth to Houston to install her permanent exhibition as part of the new Meow Wolf Houston. She is one of the few dozen artists creating individual, immersive installations that will likely be visited by hundreds of thousands of art lovers each year. Okoro’s installation features a musical element and is her largest work yet — “an essence of a mosh pit inside of something that exists outside of space and time,” according to Meow Wolf.

“I hope that my piece is something that the viewers will remember when they leave,” says Okoro, “or hopefully they’ll be curious, or maybe even inspired in some way.” 

Dawn Okoro’s newest work, and her example of successfully living as an artist, just might pass the creative torch on to another young dreamer.

Learn more at okorostudio.com.