Pearl Onions Drawing

Informed by biology, scientific research and socio-cultural dynamics, Ashley Snook explores the complexities of diverse living networks and the concept of animality. To Snook, exploring ones own unique position in animality has the potential to open perspective on human existence and relationships with one another, human-animal relationships, and relationality to the more-than-human world. It is a rebellious act against hegemonic forces that have enabled things like environmental degradation, capitalism, hate, overworking, and conformity. Her practice explores connections through differences, impermanence, composting, and imaginative reworlding, and therefore, animality is a constant theme of contemplation in Snooks work. Working predominantly in drawing, sculpture and installation, animality is imbued in everything she does. She is fascinated by the micro and macro relationships between human animals, nonhuman animals, bacteria, fungi, and vegetal/botanical life—this prompts her to blur distinctions as to what is human, animal, plant, living, or nonliving. Within these methods of creating, Snook looks to ways in which she can further engage her audience. This often looks like incorporating viewer participation, encouraging presentness, sensory awakening, for example, by incorporating smell, mood lighting, tactility, sound, and playfulness in her work. Snook is an award winning, internationally recognized artist who recently showed a solo exhibition, NODES: Animality and Kinship, at McIntosh Gallery (London, ON) in 2022. She has also shown work in the 2022 exhibition GardenShip and State at Museum London (London, ON), and Come Up To My Room at the Gladstone Hotel in 2018 (Toronto, ON). Snook’s work was recently featured in Suboart Magazine (August 2023 Issue #8) , an international art magazine for emerging artists. Snook has received numerous awards within her academic life, including most recently a Doctoral Fellowship from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and an Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS). She also received the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship (SSHRC) during her MFA at OCAD University in 2015 and 2016. Snook holds a PhD in Art and Visual Culture from Western University (London, ON).