Ashley Ja'nae
The Best of the Best Juried Art Exhibition, 2017
Ashley Ja'nae
Exhibiting Artist
Pepco Edison Place Gallery
702 8th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20068
August 11 - 30, 2017
Exhibiting Artist
Pepco Edison Place Gallery
702 8th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20068
August 11 - 30, 2017
Bio
Ashley Ja’nae is a visual artist born and raised in Washington, D.C. She uses pen and ink to draw portraits that explore the humanity of Black American womanhood. Her work focuses on visual texture, rhythm, contrast, space, and the idea of what one can create with limitations. Her work functions as visual safe spaces while it explores self-acceptance, intersectionality, and the deconstruction of beauty standards.
Through the use of repetitive lines and intricate mark making, Ashley ponders the interaction of blackness and whiteness. Although race is a social construct, it affects how we socialize with one another. The repeated black lines against the stark and empty backgrounds represent how jarring it can be to move in predominantly white space. How does blackness stand on its own in contrast to whiteness? Blackness is not in opposition with whiteness but it’s crucial for Black women to create room and acceptance for themselves within and outside of their bodies. Themes covered in her artwork are influenced by bell hooks’ Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center and Melissa Harris-Perry’s Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Woman in America. She received her BFA in Art & Design Education from Pratt Institute in 2013. Her work has been exhibited in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Prague, among other places. Ashley also teaches and focuses her pedagogy on empowering students through artistic creations. |
Artist Statement
"I use pen and ink to draw portraits that explore the humanity Of Black American womanhood. My work focuses on visual texture, rhythm, contrast, space, and the idea of what one can create with limitations. This functions as visual safe spaces while it explores self-acceptance, intersectionality and the deconstruction of beauty standards. Through the use of repetitive lines and intricate mark makinq, I ponder the interaction of blackness and whiteness. Although race is a social construct, it affects how we socialize with one another. The repeated black lines against the stark and empty backgrounds represent how jarring it can be to move in predominantly white space. How does blackness stand on its own in contrast to whiteness? Blackness is not in opposition with whiteness but it's crucial for Black women to create room and acceptance for themselves within and outside of their bodies."
|