Cynthia Chinyere Okorafor known as CIN is a Nigerian American interdisciplinary artist, director, filmmaker, playwright, and creative entrepreneur raised in PG County, Maryland. She is a storyteller transforming any concept into pure visual language. She explores the depths of the world through a lens of love to garner hope. Her inspirations are birthed from her dreams and the primordial memories which she interprets into many mediums including performance art, installations, and film. She is currently exploring the soul’s inherent connection to the universe.
Okorafor wrote and directed her first Off-Broadway play 'Never Realm's Interlude' which premiered at Playwrights Horizons in New York City. Her postmodernist play fuses West African tradition and horror bending genre. Okorafor's visionary artwork was an official selection, debuting at 1-54, the first and only renowned international art fair dedicated to contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora. She has honed her craft alongside notable filmmakers and studied fashion and design at Parsons School of Design | The New School. While in New York she brought her creativity to major fashion houses like Oscar de la Renta, Anna Sui, and Ralph Lauren. Fashion design became a major pillar in Okorafor's artistry and influenced her visual relationship with storytelling, most notably seen in the costume designs of 'Never Realm's Interlude'. Okorafor has a passion for creative direction and funneling inventive flames into the world. She is based between New York City, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles where she continues to master her craft in various mediums.
Ochichiri Studios was founded by Okorafor to cultivate artistic, intriguing projects across theater, tv, film, and digital platforms. Our production company is committed to exploring the limitless through storytelling, transcendent world-building, and the unlearning in regards to contemporary mental and social issues. Ochichiri Studios is a vanguard in artistic collaborations with an emphasis on unique and underrepresented stories. We encourage unconventionality and wonderment from horror to science fiction with an emphasis on magical surrealism and avant garde aesthetics.
It is our business ethos to educate and cultivate the ideas of emerging artists working towards a more equitable future. Ochichiri Studios bring this same ethos to every project, partnering with non-profit organizations and reputable theaters in New York like Playwrights Horizons to employ performers and artists. We remain in service to artists of color and are determined to spread stories in the African and BIPOC diaspora. We offer collaborations, networking, mentorship, joy, upliftment, studio access, and other creative tailored services with a focus on Black, Brown, Indigenous, minority ethnic, and immigrant artists. We will continue to serve and champion voices across genres, arts, and expertise to create and support the next generation of thought leaders.
