Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Bravin
Hi Ashley, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I started drawing when my mom put butcher paper down on our coffee table with a box of crayons when I was a toddler, and I haven’t stopped since. I took several classes here and there, but it wasn’t until high school, that I came under the wing of a local artist who helped me see that I could make art my life’s work. It was with his help that I applied to several universities with art programs, and eventually attended Carnegie Mellon University, where I graduated with a BFA. I also studied abroad at Burren School of Art in Ireland, and did two artist in residence programs at Chautauqua Institute, and was awarded two grants and a fellowship to develop my paintings at CMU. After graduating, I moved to Los Angeles where I showed my artwork extensively in galleries and museums, and worked for another artist, until my chronic illnesses became so severe that my life came to an almost complete halt. My artwork took a dramatic shift inwards, where I started chronicling my experiences with illness. In 2022, I moved to Nashville, and have since continued to develop this body of work, which I now call “Catharsis,” and have had it featured in several shows, interviews, and most recently, a TEDx talk.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I have struggled with my mental and physical health throughout my career. I’ve grappled with severe chronic illness, as well as with devastating loss and trauma, all of which I aim to address in my artwork.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I have done a lot of varied bodies of work, but the work I am most proud of is my ongoing “Catharsis,” series, because I am so deeply tied to it. It was born out of the very intense need to respond to and cope with a failing body in a broken medical system. The very name of this painting series, “Catharsis,” is what I aim to do with the work – it’s meant to not only be cathartic to me by me making it, helping me process what I had been through (and am still going through), but it’s also meant to be cathartic for the viewers who, perhaps chronically ill themselves, may be able to resonate with it. There’s paintings of the daily realities of living with chronic illness – painted images of pill organizers with bottles of pills spilled out across the table, arms with bandages and bruising from repeated IV attempts, an image of three versions of me with my hands covering my face and temples with a background of static to represent chronic migraine. And then there’s paintings with a collage of images of infusions, pain scales, and hospital gowns, even ones of me grasping my service dog. Lastly, there’s visceral ones – ones where the patient is just a pile of meat on an exam table, representing how we as patients so often feel.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
The most important lesson I’ve learned along the journey is to continue showing up in the studio. My darkest days have been when I stopped coming into the studio and lost my momentum. Even if I’m not actively producing, the power of just being in the studio is healing, it’s my sacred space. And if I spend enough time in here, reading artist books, organizing, watching art videos, I’m bound to pick up a paintbrush and start again.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ashleybravin.net/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleybravin
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ashleybravin
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@ashleybravin
