G.A.S. Foundation is pleased welcome ruby onyinyechi amanze, a U.S. based visual artist, to G.A.S. Lagos for a two-week residency. Grounded in drawing, her practice expansively traverses dance, architecture, design, and fashion to explore the vast and magical potential of space. Working with seven recurring elements, amanze creates minimal spatial interactions that imagine alternative ways of movement. Her current research focuses on developing three-dimensional drawings that challenge how the medium is experienced, informed by the dimensional languages of architecture, design, and choreography.
During her residency, ruby plans to work intuitively, allowing her direction to emerge through process and presence. She hopes to mentor artists through a one-month, one-on-one programme for emerging and developing practitioners while exploring a range of experimental projects, from developing a chapbook or text-based work to editing a collaborative memoir on drawing with her long-time friend and collaborator Wura-Natasha Ogunji, designing a micro fashion line with recycled fabrics, or staging an impromptu dance performance. Her time in Lagos will include conversations and potential collaborations with curator Ugoma Ebilah, G.A.S. Trustee and Founder of Mbari Kola. Deeply committed to experimentation, ruby views her residency as both a continuation and a departure, a space to listen and connect with Lagos’s vibrant cultural networks.
It Will All Make Sense One Day; [[2] POOL + [2] ARCHITECTURE + ADA + BIKE], 2024, graphite, ink and photo transfer on paper, 80 × 57 in. Image courtesy of Anthea Pokroy.
What is the current focus of your creative practice?
Right now, my practice is mostly centered on drawing usually on paper, but I’ve been exploring ways to present drawings in more dimensional and architectural forms. I recently started a dance company and co-choreographed, performed, and filmed a piece, which opened up new ways of thinking about movement and space. I’m really interested in continuing projects like that and seeing where my curiosity leads beyond drawing.
our commute is long and lovely [ADA + ADA], 2024, graphite, ink and photo transfer on paper, 80 x 57 1/8 inches. Image courtesy of Anthea Pokroy
What drew you to apply for this residency and how do you think it will inform your wider practice?
I’m grateful to have been invited to apply for this opportunity. The residency feels like the right space and time to slow down, listen, and work intuitively. I’m curious about what Lagos might open up for me, in my drawings, in movement, and in how I think about space and collaboration. I imagine the experience will expand my sense of what’s possible in my practice and how different disciplines can continue to speak to each other.
breakfast :: ADA + AUDRE + POOLS, 2023, ink, graphite, screen-print, photo transfers on paper, 58 1/2 x 87 3/4 in. Image courtesy of Nicolas Brasseur.
Can you give us an insight into how you hope to use the opportunity?
There are a few directions I might take during the residency. I’m considering doing some creative writing, perhaps a chapbook or text-based project, or editing Double Aartist, a memoir on drawing with my longtime friend and collaborator Wura-Natasha Ogunji. I’m also interested in designing a small fashion line with recycled fabrics, continuing my architectural collages, or even forming an impromptu dance company. I’ve been drawing for about fifteen years and still love it, but I’m equally drawn to experimentation and expansion. My recent project at Mariane Ibrahim in Mexico City explored that spirit of research and play, which I hope to continue here. Above all, I want to make the most of this time which involves connecting with other creatives, staying true to my practice, and being present in my Motherland.
About ruby onyinyechi amanze
ruby onyinyechi amanze (b. 1982, Port Harcourt, Nigeria) creates large-scale drawings on paper that explore the vast and magical potential of space and the balance between magnitude and weightlessness. Her practice, informed by architecture, design, and choreography, challenges conventional understandings of how drawings can be experienced dimensionally. amanze holds a B.F.A. from Tyler School of Art, Temple University (2004, summa cum laude) and an M.F.A. from Cranbrook Academy of Art (2006). She has exhibited internationally in New York, Johannesburg, Paris, Mexico City, São Paulo, London, and Lagos.
ruby's residency was generously supported by Goodman Gallery.
