Barbara Ash
"The forest was shrinking (but the trees kept voting for the axe)", 2023.
I was moved by the quotation "The forest was shrinking, but the trees kept voting for the axe because the axe was clever & convinced the trees he was one of them as his handle was made of wood" so I made this piece in response.
Water-based ink lino print, canvas, fabric, cut up wedding dress, lace trim , acrylic paint, wire.
70 x 50 cms.
"Defiant dolls 1 (protest violence against women)" 2021
One of a series of assertively stanced female figures made in response to assaults on women; specifically the Sarah Everard murder in the UK and the police brutality to the women at the vigil afterwards.
Water-based ink lino prints, canvas , acrylic paint, plastic roses, lace, gloss paint, wire, digital print.
"Doll" piece 50 x 23 x 7 cms. "Fist" piece 36 x 12 x 8 cms.
"Surveillance" 2021
A hanging fabric piece with lino print eye elements, looking at the way women are constantly monitored & appraised by their appearance.
Water based lino cut print details, canvas, rose buds, lace, gloss paint, acrylic paint.
52 x 32 x 14 cms
"Shadows of frailty", 2020
This piece was hand-pulled during pandemic years for the Near & Far exhibition/print exchange for Transylvania University, Kentucky U.S; a themed project responding to physical and emotional connections.
Variable edition of 12 linocuts made with stamps, water soluble ink on Somerset paper. 18" x 14".
"Soft power 1", 2020.
This is an image taken from a sculpture installation I did in Bangalore which I am revisiting in print.... This series is variable art print editions, the same image with hand-stamped elements.
Lino print with stamps & water-based ink on Kent paper (limited edition of 10)
21 x 15.5 cms.
"Rage (against the machine)" 2023.
A 3-part piece dealing with ideas of power and protest, made in response to the increasingly authoritarian climate we live in.
Water-based ink with hand carved lino stamps, cotton fabric, canvas, polystyrene, digital print, wire, lace, acrylic paint.
Variable sizes, largest figure – approx 48 x 22 x 15 cms.
"Defiant dolls 2" (protest violence against women) 2022 (studio shot)
This large hanging piece discusses issues of ongoing assaults against women.
Water-based ink with hand carved lino stamps, canvas, digital print, wire, lace, acrylic paint.
Variable sizes, largest piece approx 105 cms high.
"Returning the gaze", 2023.
A hanging fabric piece with lino print eye elements, looking at the way women are constantly judged & appraised by their appearance.
Water based lino cut print details, canvas, lace, acrylic paint, wire, digital print.
Approx 37 x 20 cms.
"Power/vulnerability" 2022.
The Navajo boy image is from a 1904 image taken by the (controversial) photographer Edward S. Curtis.
A variable edition lino print with stamps & water based inks on Ho-Sho paper. 38 x 27 cms.
"Girl with eye dress", 2023.
This piece reflects the way women are under "surveillance" and constantly judged for their outward appearance. The girl power figure returns the gaze with her eye dress!
Water based ink lino print, acrylic paint, cotton fabric, embroidery thread, canvas.
12" x 12".
I need to make art that talks about female experience; I’m interested in themes of freedom, power and girlhood and make work from an imagination-based, often intimate, autobiographical approach, ultimately linking with universal issues, playfully using toys and dolls as slightly “dark” devices to talk about social issues, specifically from a feminist perspective.
I make hybrid prints/forms by collaging combinations of materials with unexpected dynamics – a fusion of 2d and 3d, juxtaposing sculpture and variable edition linocut prints, bringing together notions of hard and soft sculpture, and juggling “serious” socio-political issues with a degree of absurdity/humour, often in an accessible “pleasant” pastel coloured visual format.
My practice has come from a predominantly sculptural background, graduating from the R.C.A on the sculpture programme, but always enjoying the challenge of exploring other mediums and areas; when lockdown hit, I grasped the opportunity to develop my printmaking skills. This set me off in a different direction; after working on paper, I was more excited to discover the potential of juxtaposing lino print elements with 3d forms; a new journey for me with lots of creative possibilities and challenges.
I currently make my work on a boat near Bristol in the UK, before that I had an active 10-year practice in Bangalore working around India on residencies and projects; experiencing different cultures, aesthetics and art scenes and enabling me to make forays into new areas for my practice, such as land art, performance and curation. My farewell project was to co-organise an India to Europe, four woman touring exhibition.
I previously left a studio at Spike Island where I worked for 10-15 years; initially joining when it was part of Artspace, an exciting and very dynamic artist group that secured/developed the (then artist-led) Spike Island enterprise during the 80s/90s.
As far as my “professional” life goes, I gained a Fine Art degree at Middlesex University in London and was fortunate to graduate with a Masters degree at the Royal College of Art. I was awarded the Henry Moore Fellowship based for one year at Canterbury College of Art, awarded several Artists Grants from Arts Council England, and was a "Judges Favourite" (Mary Allen; ex-Secretary-General of Art's Council England) in the British Women Artist Annual. I was the finalist for the Sculpture category in the Marshwood Arts Prize 2019 selected by Tania Kovats.
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