Margaret Ashman | The Work
Statement
Margaret Ashman has built up a practice based around photographic images of deaf people signing in BSL or other sign languages. She uses her own photographs as the basis for photo etching – a technique which combines old and new technology to make original prints. The image is etched onto steel or copper plates, hand inked and printed with a traditional etching press onto a variety of papers.
When photographing, she directs the action, giving models particular words to sign. At other times she acts as an observer to their conversations. Initially exploring how we perceive emotions in others through sign language, body language and facial expression in earlier practice investigated how an image stimulates the viewer’s senses. On one hand Ashman dealt with tricking the subconscious, the life size works suggest reality by using sharp and soft focus to replicate the way that we see. At the same time she uncovered micro expressions, fleeting moments of intense emotion which are normally missed by the observer but which reveal the wearer’s true feelings.
More recently the artists work has been with models who perform Sign Dance – an amalgamation of sign language with dance. The imagery is constructed from her own photography and borrowed fragments from sources such as fabrics or books. Margaret's usual model is a Japanese dancer, Chisato Minamimura, who performs sequences of sign language for her camera.
“I aim for a spiritual elegance and simplicity in the finished work, in contrast to the lengthy, complicated process of making. A poem or phrase or idea is given to the dancer as a starting point, from which the work evolves. Further layers add new constructs until the etching process translates the final image into a coherent whole, with rich textures and delicate colour combinations. The addition of birds, flowers and other elements allows the viewer a window into the subconscious inner world, a different reality to the visible.”
Her work is informed by the critical context of allegory, intertextuality and the I-Ching.
CV
Education
MA Printmaking University of Brighton 2005
BA Fine Art University of Hertfordshire 2003
MA Physics Oxford University 1980
Elected Fellow Royal Society Painter Printmakers 2010
Elected Vice Chair Printmakers Council 2010
Residencies
2009 Artist in residence at the Guanlan Print Base near Shenzhen, China
2008 Artist in residence at Harlow College
Competitions and Awards
2011 International Prize winner, 3rd Guanlan Biennial, China
2010 Finalist, Art of Giving National Art Competition, Saatchi Gallery
2006 St Mary’s Stations of the Cross Commission 2nd place
2005 University of Brighton, Mini Print Competition, First Prize
2004 Julian Trevelyan Memorial Award (at the Mall Galleries)
2003 Hertfordshire University Degree Prize
Collections
Guangdong Museum of Art, China
Penang State Museum, Malaysia
Museum of Graphic Art, Split, Croatia
International Print Triennial Society, Krakow
Shenzhen University, China
Guanlan Print Base, China
The Americas Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Prints, Iowa
University of Hertfordshire
Ashmolean Museum
Pembury Hospital, Tunbridge Wells
Arts Therapies Centre, London
Lovells
Citigroup
River Island
Exhibitions
2011 Head and Whole, Abbey Walk Gallery, Grimsby
2011 PRINT & DESIGN NOW! SW1 Gallery & Bearspace, Deptford
2011 3rd Guanlan International Print Biennial, China
2011 Portraiture Unraveled, Lloyd Gill Gallery, Weston-super-Mare
2011 Parallax AF, Pall Mall
2011 Untitled, Vyner Street Gallery
2011 London Original Print Fair, Royal Academy
2011 Press Freedom, The Station, Richmond
2011 Greenwich Printmakers - Second Edition, National Theatre
2011 The Affordable Art Fair, Battersea
2010 Christmas Contemporaries, Collyer Bristow Gallery
2010 ING Discerning Eye Exhibition, Mall Galleries
2010 Art of Giving Competition (Finalist), Saatchi Gallery
2010 Pushing Print, Margate
2010 2nd Penang International Print Exhibition, Penang
2010 Bienial Internacional de Gravura, Douro (Invited Artist)
2010 Exchange 7, Printzero Studios, Seattle
2010 Off the Wall, Bankside Gallery
2010 International Print Triennial, Oldenburg
2010 Multiple Matters - Graphic Concepts, Vienna
2010 Originals 10: The Contemporary Printmaking Show Mall Galleries
2010 Flight, Caxton Contemporary, Whitstable
2010 London Original Print Fair, Royal Academy
2010 The Affordable Art Fair, London
2010 Print Now, Bearspace, London Art Fair
2010 Solander Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
2009 Solo Show, Hepsibah Gallery, London
2009 International Print Triennial MTG-Kraków, Bunkier Sztuki, Krakow
2009 International PrintArt Triennial Kraków-Katowice, Rondo Sztuki,
2009 Print or Photography?Contemporary Art Gallery, Opole, Poland,
2009 International Graphic Art Biennial Split, Croatia,
2009 International Prints Exhibition and Festival,Qijiang, China,
2009 Art at Wharepuke, Kerikeri, New Zealand
2009 7th International Engraving Biennial, Museum of Modern Art, Liege
2009 Originals O9: The Contemporary Printmaking Show Mall Galleries,:
2009 7th British International Mini Print Exhibition, Touring UK
2009 2nd International Print Biennial Guanlan, Shenzhen, China,
2009 Centrepiece, Spike Island, Open Impact 6
2009 Marcilhac-sur-Cele, France, Pierre Press & Printmakers Council
2009 30 Years/30 Artists, Oxo Gallery, London
2009 Lasting Impressions, National Theatre
2009 London Original Print Fair, Royal Academy,
2008 Through the Lens, Royal West of England Academy,
2008 Solo Show, Hepsibah Gallery
2008 Prints by the RE, Museum of Modern Art, Nairobi,
2008 The Americas Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Prints, Iowa USA
2008 7th World Print Annual, Sofia, Bulgaria
2008 London Original Print Fair, Burlington Gardens
2008 Originals 08: The Contemporary Printmaking Show Mall Galleries,
2007 International Print Biennale Guanlan, Shenzhen, China,
2007 6th Lessedra Print Annual Sofia, Bulgaria,
2007 Portraits: Greenwich Printmakers, Clifford Chance
2007 I Love Print, London Print Studio,
2006 Originals 06: The Contemporary Printmaking Show, Mall Galleries,
2006 Solo Show, Hepsibah Gallery
2006 6th British International Miniature Print Exhibition
2006 Harrow Contemporary, London Gallery West
2006 Under One Sky (Solo), Harrow Festival
2006 The Affordable Art Fair, London and Bristol