ruby onyinyechi amanze #2 of 17 Swimming Pools [Divers], 2020 Ink, photo transfers, graphite, gouache and acrylic on paper Work: 168.9 x 188 cm
#2 of 17 Swimming Pools [Divers] represents a novel beginning for the artist, who after working for seven years with an ongoing host of characters and elements, has pared down and redefined her focus in the following ways.
Focus #1: Less is more.
Focus #2: Textured emptiness: an elevated attention to paper and surface. Expanding upon her affinity for paper and process, amanze continues to play with the question of how to make structural drawings, one element of which, is giving weight to paper while maintaining its inherent properties. This work continues that research by layering multiple sheets of paper to create a single drawing, as well as coating the paper's surface with a palette knife and a combination of mediums, acrylics and varnishes.
Focus #3: An edited cohort of characters. The world amanze creates is a complex spatial negotiation between the paper, surface and a newly edited cohort namely: ada, audre (formerly ada the Alien and audre the Leopard), Bird and the inanimate characters -Swimming Pool, Moped, Window and Other Architectural References. amanze considers the configurations they arrive at to be non-narrative, fuelled instead by an interest in play, dance, magic and design.
