Texas Herbs Meet Nigerian Memory, Sculpture Sings Through Scent
Step into Otobong Nkanga’s Dallas exhibition and the air itself becomes part of the art. The installation Each Seed a Body weaves together a 53-foot hemp rope, encrusted with herbs and foods—amaranth, chicory, cacao, and more—native or naturalized to Texas. This isn’t just a visual spectacle: the aroma is as integral as the form, turning scent into a sculptural element that lingers in memory as much as in the lungs.
Nkanga’s work draws on the land’s stories—migration, cultivation, and the cycles of giving and taking. Her materials, from local soil to handmade soap, connect personal experience to global histories of extraction and movement. Even the soaps she creates, colored by red clay or salt, echo trade routes and buried histories, making everyday objects into vessels of collective memory.
By blending sensory experience with urgent environmental themes, Nkanga transforms the ordinary into a call to attention—reminding us that what we breathe, touch, and share is never just our own.
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