Approved: 15.06.2015

Ashleigh Beattie

Artist, Arts development worker, Community worker, Maker

Archived
Approved: 15.06.2015

I am a Zimbabwean born Visual Artist working mainly in Installation. My work explores themes, of vulnerability, abandonment and fragility by using narratives that come from subjects, places or objects that have gone unnoticed. I like to use materials that best express this such as rusty metals and paper. The different narratives used in my work, come from my own childhood memories of growing up in Zimbabwe as well as my experiences of living in different countries and communities. More recently I have been interested in the migration of people and their search for the ideal home. And trying to questioning just how green the grass is on the other side. I aim to highlight  what we think a home is or should be, with the reality of what most homes are like. This new influence has come not only from my own personal journey away from what  I would call a home, but also from volunteering in a very neglected community in South Africa. 

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Artist Statement

I am a Zimbabwean born Visual Artist working mainly in Installation. My work explores themes, of vulnerability, abandonment and fragility by using narratives that come from subjects, places or objects that have gone unnoticed. I like to use materials that best express this such as rusty metals and paper. The different narratives used in my work, come from my own childhood memories of growing up in Zimbabwe as well as my experiences of living in different countries and communities. More recently I have been interested in the migration of people and their search for the ideal home. And trying to questioning just how green the grass is on the other side. I aim to highlight  what we think a home is or should be, with the reality of what most homes are like. This new influence has come not only from my own personal journey away from what  I would call a home, but also from volunteering in a very neglected community in South Africa. 

 

 

 

CV & Education

Higher Education

2005-2009          2:1 Bachelors of Fine Art (HONS) University of Cumbria, U.K.

 

Solo Exhibitions

2010 May        In search of the Promised Land, Carlisle Cathedral, Carlisle, England

2016 Jun   In search of the Promised Land, Alexandira Library, Manchester.

Group Exhibitions

2021 Sep  HOME: Manchester Open Art Exhibition, Manchester. 

2019 Mar  Rocking The Boat, Creative Recycling Gallery, Chorlton, Manchester.

2014 Mar  The Luck Of Edenhall, The Old Fire Station, Carlisle. 

2010 Nov    The Meeting Point, National Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe.

2009 Jul    Summer Exhibition, Cecil Street Projects, Carlisle, England.

2009 Jul       Summer Exhibition, Bank Gallery, Carlisle, England.

2009 Jun    This side of Somewhere, University of Cumbria, Carlisle, England.

2008 Dec     Love in the Asylum, Wasps Studios, Glasgow, Scotland.

2008 Sep    Liquidizer, Vault Gallery, Lancaster, England 

2008 Feb    Seconds Out- Redefined, University of Cumbria, Carlisle, England

 

Grants/ Awards/ Residencies

2007-2009  University of Cumbria, Undergraduate Scholarship.

2009         Undergraduate Arts Achievement Award, University of Cumbria.

 

Commissions

2013 Nov  Illustration for cover of GWC Annual Report, Cape Town, South Africa

 

Reviews

27-10-2010  “Zimbabwe: Breda New Art Sensation”, T. Monda, The Zimbabwe Herald.

                     http://allafrica.com/stories/201010261145.html

 

Past work

2010- 2011 Primary Art and music teacher, Kyle Preparatory School, Masvingo, Zimbabwe. 

2012-2014 Volunteer Music Teacher in a Preschool, Trinity Children's Center, Cape Town, South Africa.

2012- 2014 Volunteer children's worker, Cape Town, South Africa

2015-2017 Scene Maker, with, Making a Scene, Dewsbury West Yorkhire.