Materiality -
Some works of art have the potential to transform and elevate their media in a way that connects with viewers' natural inclinations to touch and sense them. The work in this thematic group of Saint Kate exhibitions is tactile and textural, encouraging viewers to think about their physicality in a way that merely symbolic, representational, or conceptual doesn't.
Scottish-born, Chicago-based artist Claire Ashley mines the language of painterly abstraction, monumental sculpture, slapstick humor, and PopArt to transform ordinary materials into inflatable painted sculptures.
Ashley received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago(Chicago, IL), and her BFA from Gray’s School of Art (Aberdeen, Scotland). Currently, she teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the Department of Contemporary Practices and the Department of Painting and Drawing. She has an old husband, three young adult offspring, two dogs, and three cats.
Ashley’s work investigates inflatables such as painting, sculpture, installation, and performance costumes. These works have been exhibited nationally and internationally in galleries, museums, and site-specific installations, performances, and collaborations.
Learn more about the artist in her bio and follow her process on Instagram.
