Odera Igbokwe (they/them) is a painter located on the unceded and traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. Odera was born (1990, New Jersey, USA) of Igbo parents who immigrated to the lands of the Lenape people. As a result, they are constantly excavating, responding, and envisioning in spite of the fractures that occur via diaspora. Their artwork is an exploration of storytelling through Afro-diasporic spiritualism, Black resilience, Queer cosmologies, and redefining the archetypal hero’s journey. It explores the magic of the Black Queer imagination, and questions how to build a home from an intersectional lens. Ultimately these works are a gateway to healing from collective and generational traumas, and assert that healing can be a celebration of joy, mundanity, pain, and fantasy coexisting. Their work has been featured in exhibitions, public art, publishing, and gaming, and belongs in the private gifted collections of singer-songwriters Beyoncé, Solange Knowles, and Oumou Sangaré. Recent collaborations include working with Scholastic, HarperCollins, and Vancouver Art Gallery. In 2023, Odera had three back to back solo exhibitions in Vancouver that worked to reify the canon of Black Queer cultural contributions in the Lower Mainland.
