About

Ana Rucker (b. South Carolina) is an multidisciplinary artist, including lens-based media, sculpture, performance, and community-centered collaboration. Her practice examines identity, memory, Black archives and their potential for healing.  Rucker’s work investigates how Black histories are preserved, obscured, and continually rewritten through personal stories and collective shared experiences.  She is in interested in materiality, the archive, and the body as a space for understanding knowledge, absence, and the transmission of history.

By repurposing materials and found objects, and Rucker engages in a process of reclamation. She honors what has been lost, protect what remains, and imagine what will be carried forward by examining spaces; where the weight of the past and the possibilities of the future come together as a means of liberation by delving into archival absence, intergenerational knowledge, and the politics of representation through extensions of the body.

“Growing up in rural upstate South Carolina, I became hyper aware of the lack of spaces that celebrate my black and queer identities. This awareness drives my work and  generates discussions around freedom, celebration, care, and accountability to history.”

Her artistic foundation has been shaped by experiences and from working within institutions dedicated to cultural preservation and critical dialogue, including the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture, and Mason Gross Galleries.  Her work has been exhibited in New Brunswick NJ, Charleston  Mason Gross Galleries, Icebox Project Space, The ReInstitute, Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture, The Halsey Institute for Contemporary Art, Albert Simon Center for the Arts, The Gap Gallery, The Hill Gallery, Big Blade Press, Good Year Arts Center and Guilded Horn. Whether situated in academic institutions, community-led spaces, or experimental project venues, Rucker’s work invites viewers to engage in dialogue around liberation, care, and historical accountability.

Email: irianarucker@yahoo.com