"Dear Liza - the unanswerable question" Print

Ashley’s eyes constantly capture fleeting moments & hidden details of nature, objects, and spaces; his mind & imagination then weave these memories creating a cocktail of possibilities. Ashley’s acrylic and oils paintings are very expressive style full of the energy and emotions that he uses to paints with, inspired by Karel Appel and the COBRA art movement; where the process is as important as the final outcome, based on a working method of spontaneity and experiment. Often seen and inspired by childlike marks and vivid colours using brush and palette knife. Ashley is fascinated about capturing and representing ‘a moment in time’. Powerful natural energies like tornadoes and waves lit his imagination from a very young age and his work often uses this speed and energy as a way of reflecting emotions. His art comes from taking time to look into what is happening inside him. Can we understand our own thoughts? Is there calm in the middle of a tornado? Does that mean you still have the other side to go through? The cycle of life; nature’s energy and abundance, mirrored in our own minds, in our own everyday emotions. Ashley is passionate about biomimicry and how nature is our greatest teacher. He felt compelled to protect nature and was a direct-action campaigner and protester from his mid-teens. He is touched, moved and inspired by natural geometry and playing with the macro and micro images. He loves experimenting with new surfaces and new technologies to create his art. Ashley prints some of his art onto brushed aluminium; not printing white so that the beauty of the brushed aluminium texture shines through, bringing to life the natural reflection of light on the world around us. Ashley also uses lasers to burn and engrave into a variety of materials, expanding his art into new and exciting avenues like laser engraved backlit antique mirror. A the age of 18 he started his own mural painting business and spent the first 10 years of his creative career painting giant murals all over the world for public and private commissions. His biggest mural was a 500m2 mural for Pirelli. It wasn’t until he was 28 that he felt that University had something to offer him. He received a 1st BA Hons in Design and Public Art from Chelsea School of Art where he learned that any material could be used for his art. He started using his knowledge and passion for nature and sustainability in his art, using creativity as a means of inspiring behaviour change.