Preview: Amy Ash
Amy Ash is a visual artist who does all sorts of things to do with art, making it, teaching about it and curating selections of it. In her own work she particularly loves to work with old vintage photographs and transform them into new memories wrapped in colours and shapes. Her art makes me think of how we capture moments, and how we reimagine them as we look back. I wonder if anyone in the future will be making art with the sea of images inundating our phones, screens, social media...
Amy is originally from Hampton but found her way to London, England a few years ago and has made her home there. I asked her to share a bit about herself for the third issue of CreatedHere magazine, and I was really pleased to be able to include her. Here is a peek from our Q/A, you'll have to get a copy of the magazine to read more of what she has to say!
Without Words what are Facts
What does a typical day look like?
My schedule is so irregular that I don’t really have any typical days... I am working towards on a project called YOUTH UNCOVERED at the moment. It is a youth curatorial initiative which supports a team of young people from three South London schools to curate an exhibition of contemporary art, and features work by five professional artists, including fellow Canadian, Andrew John Milne. So, a regular day this week begins at 6:40am, when I catch up on personal admin until about 8am, and head into Gerald Moore Gallery to work on the installation. But, this changes every week.
Can you name a special place in both New Brunswick and the UK that provides inspiration to you and your work?
I dream about the Fundy coast, the Kennebecasis Valley and the marshlands. I feel a connection with the names of places in New Brunswick, as well—Hopewell, Cape Enrage, Reversing Falls, Cambridge Narrows. Of course, having grown up in Hampton and Saint John, these areas are especially important.
In the UK, although I live in London, I am still drawn to the forest and the coast and feel the need to visit the both as often as possible. Sometimes the Thames will do in a pinch, but I especially love every trip to Brighton (for the sea) and Sevenoaks (for the trees). Within the city, I love the bustle of people and appreciate all the opportunity to be totally anonymous and just take it all in.
Tell me about some of your favourite pieces/installations that you've made and why you love them :
The Revaluables is an installation that remains very special to me because it was one of my first projects which side-stepped the commercial, make-a-work-and-sell-it model. I should say that I do very much value the commercial gallery model, but I had been wanting to branch out and this was my first opportunity. It also allowed me to connect with a wonderful community of people. Other works which are close to my heart are I Love you more with every remembering,Ordinary Monuments and the Fox Farm Work which are all love letters to the east coast, in their own way. I am also working on a new series of works on paper, called Cosmic Hearsay, some of which will be on its way to New Brunswick next month for the opening of a new gallery in Fredericton.
Find out more about Amy below: