By Olivia Semsel, Arts Management Intern
Our fifth Student Response Exhibition, Outside the Box, is open, and you can come check out the unique creations of 34 students (and vote for your favorite)!
This is our next post in a series featuring the student artists who have created one or more pieces displayed in Outside the Box.
Meet our featured artist, Ashley Carroll!
Ashley is from Columbus, Ohio, and is working towards her Master’s Degree at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She attended The University of Kentucky for Undergraduate Studies where she received a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art. Ashley’s specialty is in printmaking and graphic design. She focuses on screen printing and soft sculpture. Ashley makes work dealing with social politics and her life and combines them with a pop-art style that is typically full of color and emotion.
The Student Response Exhibition asked students to think beyond physical limits with the concept of a box. Ashley has two pieces on display in this exhibition! For Ashley’s first piece, titled Hope Nope Rope, she states,
“Hope Nope Rope is a traditional form of printmaking using nontraditional materials. I placed hair extensions on paper with ink and ran it through a press, embossing the page. The result is an inverse effect, leaving the paper blank where the hair once was. I spelled out the word ‘hope’ in a loose manner, which causes the hair to shift when going through the press. The word can also be read as ‘nope’, while the hair’s texture emulates the look and feel of rope. Each of these components deal with my ethnicity and gender. This is an intimate piece telling the story of a black female who is constantly being told that her body is expendable. She has hope for change, is told ‘nope’ over and over. This piece is a cry of struggle influencing those who oppress, objectify and dehumanize black women to confront the consequences of their actions.”
For her second piece, titled Appeal, she states,
“Appeal is a screen print on canvas with a collage of my personal trash. Traditionally you screen print on paper, and you do not add outside resources. The ink has been watered down to appear transparent, and it also has a clear wash over top to give a faded look to the words. The collage is a bra of my size made of fast food bags sewn together. There is emphasis on words throughout the piece like appeal, sausage, bacon, and fashion. These words are challenging how women are objectified and treated as trash, or food and disposable. There is a stereotype that when flesh is exposed in attire, that it is meant to suggest sexuality, but this garment is everyday wear for women. Appeal is used as a verb and noun in that the garment is attractive and that it is a plea calling on the public to make change.”
Come see the exhibition and vote for your top three favorites! Voting will continue until April 6 and the exhibition celebration and awards ceremony will be held on April 9, from 7-9 p.m.
