Ashton Page

I make art to return my body back to homeostasis. I see so much pain and devastation in this world and as an intensely empathetic being I feel that I have to fix everything. I feel like I have to fix hunger, oppression, and sickness all at once. I feel that they are all my responsibilities. I try my hardest to do what little I can in this life of mine to ease other’s pain, but I know I fall short. Each failure is like a new wound cut into my flesh. Sitting with my art and creating something new heals these wounds so I can begin again.

Painting is probably my greatest love. The process allows me the easiest access to my subconscious - where those wounds are dug the deepest. When I paint I lose myself. I lose track of time and I lose sense of reality. This disconnect from reality is necessary for me to be healthy. I take that time to disengage, adjust, and carry on. I go and live in a world of open possibilities for a short time. I create this new world for myself with hope that someone else will feel something in the pigment and be healed in return.

My current work steps over the threshold of painting. My new work removes itself from the canvas out into the world at large. I bestow upon reality my alternate reality in an attempt to remove societal pressures, to relax, and to just be. I want people to play pretend for a short while. We as humans think we have to grow out of our imaginations. However, adults can play pretend, too. We may not be able live in that alternate world forever, but we can visit it and foster its growth to benefit us. My artwork is the exemplar for the audience of what a new world could look like. I invite them in to play pretend with me and collaborate and grow a whole new world together.