Ashley Cecil: September 2024
Artist Ashley Cecil specializes in mixed media works of flora, fauna, and feminine forms that remind us of the connections between the natural world and its human inhabitants. Her love affair with all things organic and wild blossomed as a result of studying landscapes with accomplished painters in London while earning her master's degree at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art, immersing herself in vast collections of nature-inspired textile patterns in European museums, and painting from live observation at conservation institutions including the National Aviary. Her work includes collaborations close to home with several beloved Pittsburgh institutions, such as the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and Phipps, creating a commission for Oxfam America that was exhibited at a United Nations convention on climate change, and far-flung research adventures to biological oases including the Amazon rainforest.
My work is about the parallels between the oppression of women and the domination of nature. Both are religiously sanctioned as property, legislated against, denigrated into submission, their beauty monetized, and their fertility systematically policed.
My eyes only fully opened to these comparisons at the confluence of two life-altering experiences - the start of multiple collaborations with environmental scientists and becoming a mother. With each additional set of scientific data, my despair about the fragility of life, a looming uninhabitable planet for the beings I willingly brought into this world, and my own culpability in a mass extinction event was further cemented.
My artworks are deeply emotional and intuitive responses to that awakening, reflections on the harm inflicted on nature as well as the tender side of our relationship with it. Their aim is to endear you to the women and wildlife that will determine the future of an entire generation.
Upcoming Exhibitions
Solo Show
Matriotism
Susan Bergman Gurrentz ’56 Gallery
Chatham University, Pittsburgh, PA
September 3 – October 4, 2024
Group Shows
The Art of Democracy: Whose Choice?
Louis L. Manderino Library, PennWest California, California, PA
September 12 – October 13, 2024
The Art of Democracy: Whose Choice?
Seton Hill Arts Center, Greensburg, PA
October 17 – November 15, 2024
The Art of Democracy
Brew House Arts
October 10 – November 2, 2024
People are welcome to contribute to Ashley's artwork titled the Poll of Allegiance, which asks viewers to record ‘To whom or what do you pledge your allegiance?’ In the gallery, these responses are collected like ballots. For those not able to see shows where this work is exhibited, pledges can be submitted online here. They will be hand-written and placed in the work.
