Meet Cheryl Okonkwo | Illustrator & Animator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cheryl Okonkwo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cheryl, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I think that I was always drawn towards an artistic profession or career because art to me, in the different mediums that I like to explore, just feels like a natural extension of my thought process and personal expression. So there was never really a question to me of if I would pursue a creative career, but rather which practice I felt the most called to.

Deciding to follow the path of an illustrator/animator did take some time to narrow down though. I grew up spending a lot of time watching tv shows and movies, as well as reading many books and graphic novels. These stories inspired me to practice writing and illustrating my own attempts at short form comics. And while these attepts were definitely no where near award-winning, they did help me realize that creating works through a visual medium, usually through illustration, was going to be integral to my identity as an artist.

This realization, combined with a life-long love of animated films and tv shows, pushed me to also start exploring the more technical aspects of animation. Through researching the behind the scenes productions of animated media, from designs to storboarding, animating, and compositing, pursuing a career in animation felt like the natural next step because of how the medium felt like the perfect marriage between my love of illustration and my love of motion pictures.

Though speaking openly about my dreams to become a professional artist certainly came at a shock to my parents, and I don’t doubt there was some hesitation and uncertainty towards me working towards that career path, I was determined to make it work because I couldn’t see myself doing anything else. I also think that initial uncertainty is partially what led me to take a creative career seriously as I wanted to prove that a career in the arts could be possible for me.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I don’t think there’s anything about my artistic journey so far that’s too out of the ordinary. I was fortunate to go to an art college once I graduated highschool. While there, I was able to develop an artistic voice and really come into my own. Since graduating from college, I’ve been able to support myself through working in advertising, and that experience has really opened my eyes to the busines end of how art and design is marketed. I’ve also done freelance work that caters more to my traditional animation background in between my fulltime job.

My challenges these days have been about how to manage my time doing art for other people vs doing art for myself, as well as setting goals for where I want to take my personal art. I feel like I’m only recently really starting to overcome this challenge after an intense burn-out period postgrad. I’ve started to set hard boundaries between my work time and and my free time. And, while one can sometimes spill into the other, I’ve mostly been successful with this approach.

What I’m really excited about now are the ways in which I’m looking to experiment with my art. I think that my interest in experimentation has lead me to trying out different visual mediums and tying them back to my more illustrative work. One medium I’ve been dedicating more time to is collage. I’ve played around with digital collage both with my illustrated and animated art in the past while I was in school, but recently my interest in this sort of mixed media creative approach has been rekindled. I’m really trying to get even more weird and surreal with it this time and incorporate more relevant and meaningful themes and messages. I’m really excited to see where this approach will take me this year.

If there’s anything I want someone to take away from this interview about me, it’s that I’m always open to exploring new mediums and themes in my work. I think my personal art style is always changing and evolving but I’d hope there’s something in each piece that still ties who I am to them, and I hope people are on board with coming along for the ride that is this artistic journey.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
This is a fun question and funnily enough something I had to think about when a friend recently moved to the city.

I’ve been really trying to connect more with the art scene here so I would definitely have them take a tour of the many galleries and art museums New York has to offer. I like to visit the quirkier art museums that the Museum of Modern Art or Poster House myself out in Manhattan. But Brooklyn also has some great galleries from the more indie ones out in Bushwick to the A.I.R gallery in Dumbo.

If my friend prefers to get more hands on with art, I’d recommend a nice afternoon at Happy Medium where we can choose from a variety of art mediums on hand and just create whatever.

You can’t go wrong with food in New York, but a place my friends I keep coming back to is Tacombi. Their tacos are so good and the esquites they serve are absolutely amazing.

To the end the day, if they’d be up for it, I’d take them to House of Yes in Bushwick for a night of drinks, dancing, and possibly drag shows depending on what night we go. This spot may seem kind of out there when combined with my more lowkey spot picks but I always find myself inspired by the lights, costumes, and overall vibes of this place.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would first like to shout out my family. Especially the ones who supported my creative endeavors and listened to me ramble about art and animation, even if they didn’t completely get all of the terms and phrases I used!

I’d of course like to shout out my many amazing friends! It’s been so great to bounce off ideas between one another and I appreciate their help and guidance with my artistic and personal growth. There are some people whose work ethics I also admire, and I think that admiration pushes me to do a little more and work a little harder with my craft.

Website: https://www.cherylokonkwo.com

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