Ashley Gardner

Ashley Gardner
Ashley Gardner - Artists 360 Student Grant Recipient 2019

Artist Statement

Working with the themes of pleasure, sexuality and food, my aim is to confront the viewer with images and objects that invite them to engage in an uncomfortable act. I use tactile imagery with aesthetic beauty that mirrors the tension between real, “taboo” sex acts and consumption. I expand the idea of the fine art print of photography by creating my own textiles and use them to create domestic spaces that subvert the traditional notions of gender and family. I find that consumption of the body visual and physically is similar to the consumption of religion and food. This basic needs are linked and are often used in how people orient themselves in relation to others. This work draws from personal histories, evoking references of food and ritual in the Bible and the Book of Mormon, to express the non-normative gender roles that my bi-sexual male partner and I have within our relationship.