Ricki Klages
Department of Visual Arts
Professor, Painting
B.F.A., University of Arizona, 1984.
M.A., University of New Mexico, 1991; M.F.A., 1993.
Ricki Klages was born in Stuttgart, Germany. She received her BFA from the University of Arizona, Tucson, and her MA and MFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally, including solo exhibitions at Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio; University of Montana, Missoula, Montana; Epping Forest Museum, Waltham Abbey, City of London, United Kingdom; the Joint Research Center, Ispra, Italy, Galerie Knud Grothe, Copenhagen, Denmark and Colorida Gallery, Lisbon, Portugal. She has received many awards in Juried exhibitions, including the jurors' choice award from The Butler Institute of American Art, Baer Award in Painting from the Wyoming Arts Council and two Wyoming Arts Council Fellowship Grants. She was featured in juried publications, "New American Paintings" and the “International Painting Annual 1 through 10. Klages was the recipient of numerous Best in Shows as well as many other awards in juried exhibitions. Her work is in collections throughout the US and Europe
Ricki started teaching at the University of Wyoming in the Department of Art in 1995. She is represented by William Havu Gallery, Denver, Colorado. She served as Head of the Department of Visual and Literary Arts from 2006-2021, University of Wyoming.
Artist Statement:
My paintings reflect the influence of the places I have seen, visited, or lived in. All of these environments are referenced either directly or more subtly within my paintings.
My current body of work is from images of trees from Epping Forest near London, England. The Beech tree was used for centuries for making charcoal, and the use of coppicing and pollarding produce incredible growth patterns that give each tree a distinct personality. Epping Forest, despite being on the outskirts of London, retains the wildness of the original forest outgrowth from the last ice age, and the trees within the forest have achieved great age and gravitas. The tree is testimony to the profound presence the natural world still can have, despite proximity to an urban population. I have also started a tree series that incorporate Aspens. Despite their transitory nature, aspens are also long lived, growing from a root system in ‘family groups’ or clones and their life force remains underground.
