KATHERINE MCMAHON
Habitat is a weekly series that visits with artists in their workspaces.
This week’s studio: Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze; SoHo, New York. I caught Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze in her studio the day before she moved out. “I’m off to Miami soon,” she said, leading me through a lace curtain thinly veiling her workspace. Amanze is currently enrolled in the Fountainhead Residency in Miami but from September 2014 through June 2015, she participated in LMCC’s Workspace program, which is housed in the space of a former FBI evidence storage warehouse in downtown Manhattan.
Born in Nigeria, Amanze lived in the U.K. before moving to the United States in 2004 and receiving her BFA from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia. At the moment she is preparing for a show alongside artist Wura-Natasha Ogunji at Omenka Gallery in Lagos, Nigeria, which opens October 3, and a solo exhibition at Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg, South Africa, which November 19. Below, Amanze sheds some light on her process.
ALL PHOTOS: KATHERINE MCMAHON
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"Here's a view of my studio space."
"In every studio, I always cover the table with brown kraft paper. It’s partly to protect the drawing, but also so I can have something to scribble down words (which I love almost as much as I love drawings)."
"Ink and graphite. Photo transfers and glitter. For the most part, my material choices are very analogue. Drawing can be many things, but for me it still incorporates a pencil on paper. All of my supplies can fit in a tote bag."
"Unlike with collage where the image sits on top of the page, photo transfers become a part of the paper. It’s the thinnest application of ink on the surface. There are some things I chose to transfer as opposed to draw. I don’t think drawing should pretend to be photography. If I need a photographic image, I’ll just use one."
"From the minute I sit down to the minute I wrap up for the day, I stay with headphones on—even if no one is around. It’s not always music, but today it was Quadron’s album, Avalanche."
"Recycled egg cartons become the perfect ink tray..."
"...as time passes, they become these interesting records of color."
"I used to work in a grey scale…color is still new to me."
"My eight-year-old niece saw me with these on and asked why I was wearing Nana’s glasses."
"My lace and chiffon curtains were a bit of a joke! I didn’t need to block out the world, the illusion of privacy was enough."