Ashley Cecil is a visual artist specializing in paintings and mixed media works of flora, fauna, and feminine forms that draw connections between the natural world and its human inhabitants. Her love affair with all things organic and wild matured as a result of studying with accomplished painters in London while earning her master’s degree at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art, immersing herself in nature-inspired decorative arts collections in European museums, and painting from live observation at conservation institutions such as the National Aviary.
Her fervor for artistic interpretations of the state of life on this planet has landed Ashley many remarkable opportunities including creating a commissioned artwork for Oxfam America that was exhibited at a United Nations convention on climate change, talking face-to-face with Barack Obama about finding a path to pursue your passion, a six-month artist residency at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and traveling to the Amazon rainforest to participate in the art-immersion program, Labverde.
It was the confluence of her nature-based residency projects and becoming a mother that inspired Ashley’s recent work, which draws parallels between the oppression of women and the domination of nature. These artworks are emotional and intuitive reflections on the harm we inflict on nature as well as the tender side of our relationship with it. The aim of the work is to endear you to the women and wildlife that will determine the future of an entire generation.