Ashlynn Browning
Painting
Lives and works in Raleigh, NC
(b. 1977, American)
Q: What themes does your work explore?
A: Because I see the forms in my painting as being personified, (and really to some extent as being psychological self-portraits,) I think my work is about self-reflection and exploring inner worlds. This conceptual element is as important to me as the painterly, intuitive surfaces I am creating.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My work contains a hybrid of geometric and organic forms created through an intuitive painting process.
The forms in the paintings often function as stand-ins for figures, each one exhibiting its own personality and implied psychological narrative. Some of the forms are hunched over, vulnerable and contemplative. Others are headstrong and daring, their postures barely contained within the panel’s parameters. A sense of anxiety and internal conflict is often at play.
Experimenting with the tension between opposing forces is an important part of my work. Bold color is set against muted, geometric forms mix with organic, and pattern and texture play off of smooth color fields. These are variables that I add and subtract in multiples stages until a resonant image is formed.
The many layers in the paintings speak not only to the history of their creation, but also to the concealed parts of ourselves that we hold back. Windows into under layers reveal hidden depths and untold stories.
ABOUT
- Browning earned BA degrees in Studio Art and English from Meredith College in 2000 and her MFA in painting and printmaking from the University of NC at Greensboro in 2002.
- She has received grants and residency fellowships from the Joan Mitchell Foundation; United Arts Council; Vermont Studio Center; and Virginia Center for Creative Arts.
- Select exhibitions include the Weatherspoon Art Museum (Greensboro, NC); Whitespace (Atlanta, GA); CUE Foundation (New York, NY); and Hemphill Fine Arts (Washington, DC).
- Browning’s work was featured in the 2009 and 2015 Southern Edition of New American Paintings, and has been reviewed by Burnaway, The Washington Post, Washington City Paper, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
- Browning curated Front Burner: Highlights in Contemporary North Carolina Painting at the North Carolina Museum of Art which feature a sampling of some of the most relevant and engaging painting being made in the state.
PRESS + MEDIA
Curious Things: A Talk with Ashlynn Browning
[Art Speak Podcast]
In Sight: A Preview of Local Exhibitions in 2020
[Walter Magazine]
Front Burner: Highlights in Contemporary North Carolina Painting
[NCMA]
Interview: Art & Life with Ashlynn Browning
[VoyageATL]
Interview: Ashlynn Browning in Raleigh NC
[Burnaway]