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Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze
Born 1982 (age 43–44)
Nigeria
Education Temple University
Cranbrook Academy of Art
Occupation Visual artist
Known for Drawings

Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze, born in 1982, is an artist known for her amazing drawings. She was born in Nigeria but is also British and American. Her art often explores what it means to have roots in different cultures. Besides being an artist, she has also taught art and helped organize art shows. Today, she lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Early Life and Education

Ruby Amanze was born in Nigeria in 1982. She grew up in the United Kingdom, living there for 13 years. In 2004, she moved to the United States, settling in Philadelphia.

She studied art at the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia. She earned her first degree, a Bachelor of Fine Arts, in 2004. Later, she received her Master of Fine Arts degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Ruby Amanze's Art and Style

Ruby Amanze creates drawings using graphite, ink, and pigment. She often adds photo transfers to her pieces. Her artworks feature unique, imaginary creatures. These creatures seem to float in white spaces, existing in places that blend different geographies.

Nigerian artists and the history of drawing in Nigeria greatly influence her work. Her drawings often explore ideas of "displacement" and "cultural hybridity." This means she looks at what it feels like to be from different places or to have mixed cultural backgrounds.

Drawing is her main way of creating art. Ruby Amanze says that drawing is "constantly reinventing itself." Even though she has worked with other art forms, drawing has been her favorite since she was a child. In college, she explored photography and textiles, but drawing remains central to her art today. Her work shows feelings of being between places, like homesickness.

Awards and Special Programs

Ruby Amanze has received many honors for her art. In 2012, she earned a Fulbright Fellowship. This award allowed her to teach and research at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 2013.

From 2015 to 2016, she was part of the Opens Sessions program at the Drawing Center in New York. This program helps artists develop their work.

She has also been an Artist-in-Residence at several places. These include the Cooper Union School of Art (2011), the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (2014-2015), the Fountainhead Residency in Miami, Florida (2015), and the Queens Museum in Queens, New York (2016-2017). Being an artist-in-residence means she gets a special place and time to focus on her art.

Exhibitions Around the World

Ruby Amanze's art has been shown in many places internationally. Here are some of her solo exhibitions:

Where Her Art is Kept

Ruby Amanze's artworks are part of permanent collections in many important places. This means her art is owned and displayed by these institutions for a long time. Some of these collections include:

See Also

  • List of Nigerian women artists