Glorious nature in all its alien-like beauty
Ashley has a fascination with natural patterns and colour, finding beauty in the prosaic form of rocks, creating these mysterious alien-like shapes that float seamlessly mid air or stand alone in a desolate, apocalyptic landscape.
By studying ecological interconnections, we become increasingly aware of the tenuous relationship between human beings and the vulnerable ecosystems that support us. Learning how moss spreads, how clouds accumulate, and how bones grow can help us imagine future lifeforms and landscapes created when these patterns are disturbed. Disrupting these systems will alternately produce disastrous and extraordinary results. We can use these conceptions to alter the ways in which we interact with nature.”
These colourful, fleshy, geological formations are somewhat comforting in this forgotten landscape the artist has created. It comments on the resonance of nature, and the beauty of nature.
Her choice of titles lift her paintings out of a solely biological and ecological fueled quandary and shift them into a metaphorical, self-reflective, meditative space. The series itself is titled Sentient, directly opening up the work to a channel of emotional conversation, each piece taking the sentiment a little further. For example; The Inner Balance of Things, which features a delicately faded pink rock floating through a soft clouded sky; The Appearance of Quiet Restraint, which focuses on a triumphant looking boulder with small, seemingly measly mountains in the background; or Maybe We Look Like This Inside, which displays a fleshy, internal-organ-esque looking rock hovering over an empty, gray landscape. These titles add a very honest, almost painfully personal aspect to the work, hinting that these pieces act as depictions of an internal space; it is as if she is allowing the viewer into her most personal contemplative thoughts.
I have included a few more examples of her work, but you can see even more stunning paintings on her website. Enjoy!
artmyface 