DP: What’s your name and what do you do?
Ash Rivera: My name is Ash Rivera. I paint and I make sculptures and I’m a senior at Mason Gross. I work in oil and acrylic for paintings. I use mostly wood, found objects, and styrofoam for my sculptures.
DP: What’s your work about? How would you describe it?
AR: Something that’s been on my mind during my recent paintings and sculptures is the concept of eco feminism, which links feminism to ecology. It ties to the idea of nature and culture being divided by society, but culture is praised in a way that nature isn’t. I also feel women have a deep subconscious connection with the earth. Awareness also plays a big part in my work. Sometimes we go on about our day in a route not really living in the moment. Me practicing awareness was me realizing how fucked up the world really is but how beautiful the earth is. I’m just recently discovering this so there’s a lot of development waiting to happen.
DP: Has there been anything recently that has changed your way of thinking, seeing, and making art?
AR: I went to a residency program at the Yale Summer School of Art at Norfolk last summer. It’s mostly a program for painters but most of the people I encountered there do everything. I met a lot of different people with different experiences so sharing how we all approach art from our own perspective was really interesting. I was drawn to the idea of ecofeminism when I was at Norfolk because I met so many great women, plus I noticed that almost all of us women spent most of our time outside. We were either making art outside or just thinking outside while most of the guys crowded the studios inside.
DP: Where are you right now with your work?
AR: Right now I am thinking about constraint. Like being trapped in this sort of space that seems comfortable, where nature is that comfort part but the body being distorted. These are probably going to be the last paintings I make for now just because I want to focus on one medium for a bit because I get too caught up in the concept of each and I want to work on fully developing the ideas of the pieces.
DP: Do you have any specific plans after graduation?
AR: I’m going to apply to a few residencies and hopefully I can do that. I have two in mind right now, but if that doesn’t work out I guess look for a job. And hopefully move out of my mom’s house, that would be ideal.