HUMDINGER: a show by Ashley Bevington



This year here at Edinboro University we have three ceramics students going through their candidacy reviews.  Candidacy typically happens once you've been in the MFA program for 1.5 years.  Once a student is reviewed for candidacy they are officially accepted into the program here at EUP, given they pass.  You are not required to have a show for candidacy, but all three 2nd year MFAs here at Edinboro are doing so this year.  

Our first MFA student to have their candidacy show was Ashley Bevington.  Ashley is from Nashville, OH and received her BFA from Columbus College of Art & Design in 2014.  Bevington has participated in many regional & national exhibitions and has received numerous awards within her craft. Bevington was awarded a graduate assistantship through Edinboro University's MFA program, and is expected to graduate in 2017.

Ashley's statement is as follows:

"My work revolves around the disillusionment of adulthood. As children, we long to be grown-ups. It isn’t until we become adults with responsibilities and analytical tendencies that we realize how good we once had it as children. With added pressure of the media, we tend to have bloated expectations of what our lives should be. I have found that having lowered expectations is a key to happiness. I find the humor in daily negative events in order to avoid ruining a potentially good day. This newly found survival tactic has me reliving my past through this mindset. The pieces that I create are all objects from particular stories that in some way shaped who I am today. The stories are typically traumatic events that took place during my childhood. I am trying to re-experience these events as my current self. I feel that once I complete a piece about a specific event,that event becomes merely a story, and the burden of that event can be lifted from my present life.

I coil build the majority of my ceramic sculptures. The pinch marks left behind are similar to stitches holding a wound together. The pinches add a warped/nostalgic feeling to each piece. I use pastel colors as a sense of relief from heavy content."

Ashley put together a wonderful show!  It was very thoughtful as an installation, creating a narrative while walking through the gallery, yet each piece holds up just as well on it's own.  The playfulness in the pinched textures and color of her work is inviting for the viewer, asking the viewer to relate to the concepts, imagery, and narrative.  


Needless to say Ashley passed candidacy with flying colors!  We're so happy to have her in the program here at Edinboro University.  Ashley is currently the Vice President of Clay Club.  Make sure to keep up to date with her on:

INSTAGRAM
WEBSITE

Previous
Next Post »
0 Komentar