Hello, my name is Alysa Ricks I am an artist, educator, and storyteller. My work is rooted in everyday rituals, community memory, and rebellion against silence.

I paint with coffee stains, color, and texture to capture the beauty and resilience of complicated, human experience we call life. My pieces often weave in symbolism, and events as it is passed down through generations, threads of identity stitched into the present.

As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I believe art is a place of resistance and belonging. I challenge what’s expected of fine art by using ordinary materials; like coffee, something shared daily across cultures, to tell extraordinary stories.

When I’m not in the studio, I’m teaching energetic two-year-olds, being a mom to an amazing six year old, and creating a life with my partner of five years. That energy spills into my art: messy, bold, layered, and alive.

Through my work, I hope to create spaces where people feel seen, where culture and memory are honored, and where rebellion against erasure turns into beauty.

About My Art

I’ve been creating art since the first grade. Art has always been part of my life it is a constant language I return to for truth, healing, and storytelling.

Currently, I’m working on a deeply personal exhibition that honors the souls of African Americans. This body of work was inspired by my own family; specifically, my African American brother and sister. Growing up in a white world, surrounded by white rules, white walls, and white expectations, I witnessed firsthand the harsh, unjust realities they faced. This exhibit is my tribute to their strength, their beauty, and the powerful resilience of the Black experience. Each piece is a celebration and remembrance of African American identity; defiant, enduring, and radiant.

While I explore many forms of art as a full-time artist, watercolor is my primary medium. However, this series is painted with coffee, a symbolic choice. I was raised Mormon and came out as a queer woman within that world. The first time I tasted coffee, it felt like freedom. It was my first small act of rebellion, my first step toward living as my full self. So in this series, coffee becomes both medium and metaphor: a personal offering of liberation, love, and reverence.