Ashley Collins "Five Points of Light" July 2019

A SHLE Y C OLLINS

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July 23 – August 3, 2019 Jackson Hole Artist Reception | Tuesday, July 23 | 5:30–7:30 pm

A SHLE Y C OLLINS Five Points of Light

Jackson Hole | Scottsdale | AltamiraArt.com

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Shooting Star | 96 x 120 inches Mixed media- oil and acrylic on aged paper, historic documents, found objects, matte varnish finish Enquire

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Five Points of Light Ashley Collins’ paintings require presence to truly appreciate. Conscious viewing sustained over days, weeks, months, and years reveal the countless layers she embeds in each panel. Her paintings open portals to history, both personal and profound. With each new work, Collins excavates a truth that is new in presentation yet ancient in meaning.

Such is the case with Shooting Star, the most recent piece in her bold Skin Horse series which finds the artist painting a perfect specimen only to tear it apart once finished. From these fragments, she rebuilds a less-immaculate yet moremeaningful work. Riven with the wisdom won from conflict, the imperfections are a mark of lived beauty.

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Story—history, her story, our story— underpins Collins’ effort. The tradition of wishing upon a shooting star is traced back to the Greco-Roman astronomer Ptolemy who, around 135 AD, wrote about the gods peering down on humans through a crack between the spheres of the heavens and earth, through which stars would cascade. During such meteor showers, the ancient Greeks would make wishes, recognizing the glinting trails as evidence that the gods were listening in on their thoughts and actions. For Collins, children have become the torchbearers of this tradition, holding fast to their dreams.

With Shooting Star, she creates a conduit for adults to unearth the child within, everpresent yet subsumed by the rules learned throughout life. She empathizes with her collectors, many of whom have achieved the material success prized by society, and recognizing their desire to delve beneath cultural constructs and reconnect with childhood joy. “At this point in my 30-plus years of painting, most of my collectors— through sheer determination and hard work—are far beyond the wealth and success that most of us dream of,” she

says. “Yet because of that, they are often the most child-like or learning to be childlike, because once we have conquered the adult rules of life, we realize how utterly meaningless they are.” Collectors accept Collins’ visual invitation to appreciate moments rich with wonder, to learn to love the priceless joys in life.

Shooting Star embodies the gesture of generosity, the encouragement to soar in the galaxy of dreams. Evoking the scale of the universe, the 96” by 120” triptych defies its massive size with a pervading warmth and alluring texture.

Every element invites haptic exploration: weathered pages pulled from books call for scanning the knowledge that surrounds us; references to the classic children’s tale, “The Velveteen Rabbit”, by Margery Williams, stir childhood fascinations; a metal rose that detaches from its magnet to become a magic wand; a metal whirligig, sourced from an antique seed spreader, welcomes touch. “Time is our most valuable possession,” Collins says.

“Children are great teachers of being in the now.”

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Vivek | 48 x 72 inches Mixed media - oil and acrylic on aged paper, historical documents, found objects, book covers, license plate, matte varnish Enquire

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Barraud

Barraud is a symbol that your strength and your abilities are far more powerful than you could ever imagine. For Collins, it is also a metaphor for perseverance; to ignore those that say you can’t achieve something or imply that your dreams are too grand. For they are not.

In Collins’ early years painting, she was consistently told that contemporary art could not focus on the soul of the horse. She was told no one would take a female painter seriously. For years she was homeless because she fought for her dream. Now Collins is one of the top female contemporary painters in the world and those naysayers are long forgotten.

The title, Barraud, reflects the journey of a single painting by Francis Barraud.

His Master’s Voice, shows the artist’s dog intently listening to a wind-up Edison Bell Cylinder phonograph. In 1898, thinking the Edison-Bell Company might find it useful, Barraud presented it to the marketing director James E. Hough. His response was curt: “Dogs don’t listen to phonographs”. That should have been that. Yet, he persisted.

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The next year, Francis Barraud went to the Maiden Lane offices of The Gramaphone Company and quickly won over their manager William Barry Owen. The rest, as they say, was history. The image became a successful trademark of the Victor and HMV record labels, HMV music stores, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA Records), and would last more than 100 years as an icon of music and art.

Collins’, Barraud, began when she came across an old 1950’s RCA record, which forms the beating circular heart of this magnificently textured work. She repeatedly layered and tore portions of the collage, lending the painting added strength via reconstruction. You can reach out and touch the various layers on the horse which somehow tell the story of the power of our beliefs. There is no question as to his power, his presence.

We can accomplish whatever we set our minds to. We are indeed powerful beings.

We are persistent, just like Barraud.

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Barraud | 60 x 84 inches Mixed media - oil and acrylic on aged paper, historical documents, found objects, book covers, license plate, matte varnish Enquire

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Sparrow The series, Furious Angels, is a group of beautifully complex works whose purpose is to disrupt our longstanding perception of what angels are. Sparrow is the first released painting of this new group. The images of childlike cherubs or floating elderly souls is likely not accurate. For Collins, each of us has had angels appear during key moments in life.

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For an angel to truly effect great change, it must be with a furious concentrated effort, love, and strength that puts forth overwhelmingly powerful good. Any alternative becomes muted through this progression.

Other details include a linotype from 1868 of a young boy and girl. Sparrow’s wings are crafted from old license plates, wood, metal and Collins own brushes. The tail is made of wavering tape and cardboard, as it folds in and out through Collins’ “clouds”.

Collins began to portray these Furious Angels not with wings of gold, but with battle scarred bits and pieces that evidence knowledge and history. It is the assurance that comes from flight after flight, through dangerous lows and lofty heights; views of endless beauty and savage battle. Like any great warrior, cuts and scars are evidence not of failure, but an unrelenting perseverance to succeed.

The numbers 270 are from an old 1950’s arcade counting machine for see ball, adding playfulness. But there is also a deeper meaning. The numbers add up to 9 which is revered in Christian, Hindu, Norse, and Ancient Egyptian theology as being the most divine number. Just like the divinity of a Furious Angel.

Sparrow centers upon a hand of cards with one hidden, the mystery of life. For Collins, it is a symbol that we do not have to play the hands we are dealt, we can determine our own fate. On the card that is face down a crown rests, meaning we are each kings and queens with power greater than we can imagine.

If you examine the face and body of the figurative horse, you will see the variation of colors and brushes. Even Collins’ fingerprints are visible which have been applied in a seeming variety of chaos, but in fact, create a stunning and beautiful soul.

The exploration of Sparrow will last generations.

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Sparrow | 49 x 72 inches Mixed media - oil and acrylic on aged paper, historical documents, found objects, book covers, matte varnish Enquire

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Perspective | 60 x 84 inches Mixed media, oil, acrylic on panel, historical documents, found objects, hand welded metal frame Enquire

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172 Center Street | Jackson, Wyoming 83001 AltamiraArt.com | 307-739-4700

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