Meet Ash

Ash, an 18-year old York alumni who describes herself as an “idiosyncratic perfectionist,” is currently on a gap year before starting at the University of Denver. She first became a YACster in September of 2018, and describes YAC as an “amazing and fun safe-space.”

Ash’s first memory of making art was finger painting in preschool. She describes how it was a rare occasion, but that finger painting day was always the best day! Now Ash works mostly with acrylic paint and resin, and describes her work as “bold, colorful, and eccentric.” Ash loves working with color, especially because she is a synesthete, and experiences music and smells as associated with specific colors and shapes. She says she will put her music on shuffle and watch to see what colors and shapes come to mind. Ash also draws inspiration from the 90-something year-old force of an artist Yayoi Kusama (who was the reason Ash first started making abstract art), Keith Haring (as she says, “because he’s Keith Haring.”), as well as nature, which she considers an endless source of patterns to use for abstraction.

Ash’s other passions include music, which she loves to both listen to and play (she plays mostly guitar and a little ukulele), cooking, and baking. She says that being a part of YAC has definitely helped expand her artistic abilities, and has also served as a space for her to get to know many different people from all walks of life. One of Ash’s proudest moments was when she sold her first artwork after her first YAC show (it was a woodcarving of a phoenix). Her patron was a ten year-old boy, and Ash got to meet him and his mom! Ash was very nervous before her first show, but remembers that it pretty quickly turned into a great night.

Ash’s goals for her art are to explore more realism, expand her abstract work, and to go out of her comfort zone. She has plans to start selling her jewelry online (and eventually through YAC, too), and hopes to work more with oil paints, and eventually to try glass blowing, too! Ash is looking forward to exploring many courses at the University of Denver in order to learn, explore, and figure out what she loves to do most! Find Ash’s vibrant, fun, and lively work online @ashfrumkinart.