Changing Views, and Parts of Progress: An Interview with Painter Ashlee Bucholtz
/Ashlee Bucholtz is visual artist and art tutor
based at Nauti Studios in the Blue Mountains.
Ashlee’s current painting practice is focused on the narrative of the invisible and our perception of the unknown. Her paintings “pull at the underpinning structures of old spaces, memories and the sensation felt through my body. For myself, the idea of memory, space and body are not clearly defined and the veneer of these structures no longer resemble a function but instead a sensibility.”
We asked Ash some red hot Qs to get a behind the scenes look at the world,
and inspirations behind her amazing work.
Ashlee Bucholtz, at work in her studio at the Blue Mountains Nauti Studios.
Tea or coffee?
Coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon.
Sunrise or sunset?
Sunset or simply the night.
What scares you?
Waiting for my medical test results.
‘Edmans Gate’ (2019) from Ashlee Bucholtz’s series ‘Deep in the Weeds’.
When did you start painting?
Like most children, I was creatively inclined at a young age but I didn't take my painting seriously until I started studying a Diploma of Fine Arts at the Hunter Street Tafe (Newcastle Art School).
What inspires you and your work?
I love painting structures in decay or a torted landscape. It's the narrative of spaces, people and things that can't be seen. So I am always chasing the "sensibility" of a feeling.
What’s your fav thing about Nauti?
At Nauti studios, I have the best of both worlds. A sense of community, plus the fabulous "procrastination" convos. And after I can retreat to my own creative world.
‘Sparrow’s Nest’ (2019) from Ashlee Bucholtz’s series ‘Deep in the Weeds’.
Ashlee Bucholtz, at work in her studio at the Blue Mountains Nauti Studios.
What is the painting you are most proud of?
Every series of paintings I create produces a gem or two. But like children, I don't really have "favourites" because they are all a part of my progress.
What are you working on at the moment?
I am currently working on a project called "Secret Sitter". Creatives from beginners to practicing artists were asked to submit an image of themself and answer a survey. We were then randomly sent the information & image of our sitter and asked to produce a portrait that will be revealed at the end of September.
If you weren't an artist, what would you be?
Unhappy with another job. I'm not to be honest, I already quit studying nursing to pursue the arts.
‘Out of the Rabbit Warren’ (2019) from Ashlee Bucholtz’s series ‘Deep in the Weeds’.
‘Deep in the Weeds’ (2019) from Ashlee Bucholtz’s series ‘Deep in the Weeds’.
Have any artists changed the way you see the world?
Most of the time it's for selfish reasons, and the artist has changed the way I see my practice.
James Turrell made the statement that "object and subject are not the same thing" and this has permanently changed the way I see painting.
If you could have dinner with any artist dead or alive, who would it be?
I would hope it would be like the movie "Midnight In Paris' '. I would love to talk to art critique, Getrude Stien, Frida Kahlo, Gerhard Richter and Peter Doig and many more.
Ashlee Bucholtz with Steph Mazure, in her natural habitat at Nauti Studios in the Blue Mountains.
