Ricky Weaver 

Ricky Weaver is an image-based artist, theorist, and mother, born in Ypsilanti, MI. She is currently teaching at ArtCenter College of Art and Design in Pasadena, CA as a fellow for the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD). Ricky is represented by David Klien Gallery and has shown work at Art Miami, The Havanna Biennale, Sofa Expo, and more.

Her work has been acquired by institutions like The Wedge Collection and published in Aperture’s As We Rise: Photography from the Black Atlantic. Ricky was named one of LensCulture's Critics Choice Artists of 2020, selected by Susan Thompson, Associate Curator at The Guggenheim Museum. She also participated in The Independent Scholar Fellowship at The Carr Center where she was mentored by Carrie Mae Weems. She earned an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a BFA from Eastern Michigan University, with a concentration in Photography.

Ricky recently presented a paper titled, How I got Over: The Meta-Archive and other registers at Black Portraitures VII hosted by Rutgers University. Ricky has constructed the term “Meta-Archive" as a way to examine the physiological implications of images by extending her image-based theory beyond the photograph resulting in her Image-Based Ontology Philosophy. Her art and theory are centered around the lexicon generated through black women's everyday practices, dark sousveillance, and images as objects that alchemize the archive on a quantum level.

Most recently she has been appointed the Mellon Artist in Residence at the University of Michigan Institute for Humanities beginning the Fall of 2022, resulting in a Solo Exhibition in the Spring. Ricky is also looking forward to “Crucify My Flesh”, her upcoming Solo Exhibition at David Kline Gallery opening in early 2023.

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