Ashton's artwork investigates symbols of femininity while engaging and challenging the history of painting. The pieces subtly hover over craft, kitsch and the decorative, yet are approached with formal depth and reverence. Her practice is a continual exploration of material– forcing an understanding through manipulation, pushing each element beyond itself, while crossing boundaries and asking questions. Materials such as glitter and mylar are used to create a sense of attraction and distancing simultaneously; illusions of flatness combined with tactile qualities create optical interventions at every viewing distance.
Born 1983, San Francisco, CA
Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA
EDUCATION
2014-2016 Otis College of Art and Design, MFA, 2016
2008-10 BA, University of California Los Angeles: Women's Studies, Art History, English Literature
2007-08 UCLA Extension: Printmaking & Painting
2006-08 Santa Monica College: Ceramics, Drawing, Creative Writing, Women's Studies & Art History
2004 Study abroad in Tuscany, Italy, Art History & Oil Painting En Plein Air
2001-02 University California Santa Cruz, Fine Art Studies
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2016 place of, MFA Thesis Exhibition, Bolsky Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
place, shapes, light, Window Installation, Long Beach, CA
2009 Figures and Forms, The Ranch, Los Angeles, CA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2017 note to self, elephant art space, Glassell Park, CA
FAR Bazaar, Cerritos College, Norwalk, CA
2016 Human Condition, Metropolitan Medical Center, West Adams, CA
MFA Biennial, juried exhibition, Brea Art Gallery, Brea, CA
2015 The Nature of Personal Reality, Bolsky Gallery, CA
UNICEF's Next Generation Art Party, Venice, CA
The Back Room, Otis Graduate Studios, Los Angeles, CA
2014 Thanks for the Mammaries, ForYourArt, Los Angeles, CA
Rifst Reys, Bolsky Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2013 Two person show, Roseark Gallery, West Hollywood, CA
HotBed, El Giardini del Paradiso, Tiburon, CA
Tiburon Art Festival, Tiburon, CA
2012 HotBed, El Giardini del Paradiso, Tiburon, CA
2011 Chain Letter, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2010 Tribes Art Symposium, Workspace Limited, San Francisco, CA
2009 Canvas Beats Cancer, The Ranch, Los Angeles, CA
T-Rains, The Ranch, Los Angeles, CA
2004 Lucca En Plein Air, Tuscany, Italy
2001 Undergrad Exhibition, University of California Santa Cruz, CA
FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS
2016 AICAD Teaching Fellowship Nominee
2014 Fellowship, Otis College of Art and Design
2010 Competition winner, Art Scene Today, featured artist Ashton Allen, 3rd Place Winner in: Abstractions of the Mind
2009 Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society
2008-2010 University of California Los Angeles, Dean’s Honors List
FILM
2012 Knight of Cups, directed by Terrance Malick
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2014 Maxwell Williams, “Thanks for the Mammaries”, GOOD Magazine, August, 2014 (featured image)
Isabel Wilkinson, “Artist Turns Breast Cancer Into Cause for Humorous, Boob–Themed Art Show”, NY Magazine, August, 2014 (featured image)
2013 Catherine Bigelow, “America's Cup hails its 3 new Hall of Famers”, SF Chronicle, August 2013
2010 Stephane Marquet and Aleksandar Tomovic, “Ashton Allen Art at The Ranch LA”, www.ohlalamag.com, Sept, 2010