Haimy Assefa on Directing Precious Okoyomon's Creative Destruction

In a director's note for Art21's New York Close Up film "Precious Okoyomon's Creative Destruction," Haimy Assefa discusses the process of capturing the artist's multifaceted practice. The film, released on July 22, 2026, documents Okoyomon's work leading up to their installation at the 2026 Whitney Biennial. Assefa highlights the motif of seeds, which Okoyomon uses to describe their poetry as a generative source for their art, and their personal history of moving from Nigeria to the UK and then to the US. The film also features Okoyomon lying on a futon surrounded by stuffed animals, a framing Assefa had envisioned for years. The artist's process involves deconstructing and reassembling stuffed animals, adding taxidermied wings to create what they call "angels," which are suspended from the ceiling. Assefa aimed to convey the tension between innocence and violence in Okoyomon's work through quick cuts and sound effects of tearing and cutting. The film includes production stills of Okoyomon's installations, including "Sun of Consciousness. God Blow Thru Me – Love Break Me" (2025) at the 36th São Paulo Bienal and "Everything wants to kill you and you should be afraid" (2026) at the Whitney Biennial. Assefa hopes the film invites viewers to reconsider symbols of innocence.