BASIC TALKS ~ Kathryn Ashill ~ February 2025 (ONLINE)

1pm, 7/2/2025

Online

Kathryn Ashill, Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Basic Space is delighted to present Kathryn Ashill for our February BASIC TALK - 1pm on Friday the 7th of February 2025 online.

Kathryn Ashill (b. Barry Island, Wales)

Live performance, video and installation present Ashill’s personal experiences of lived working class identity. The culture clash between Kathryn’s background and artistic practice sits in the disjointed narratives within their artwork. Ashill pursues the theatricality in the everyday whilst sharing fragments of autobiography, observations on people, history and site. The frequent use of drag in Ashill’s work opens up a dialogue about the history of the drag king in contemporary performance, as well as facilitates the exploration of gender identity. Animation, theatre flats, film and the DIY aesthetic of amateur dramatics articulate the materiality of these themes.

Ashill’s practice-as-research has centred around the key points that have arisen from current discourse around the co-working non-human animal and human animal relationship. By weaving together case studies on animals that perform roles in biotherapies, theatre, visual art and the military, the research has resulted in a series of performances and films involving different species working for human health. This research also explores the potential for interspecies climate justice and working across species to tackle climate crisis. The body of work culminated in a practice- based PhD which was funded by the Wellcome Trust and awarded by The University of Manchester (2024).

Kathryn Ashill graduated with a BA Honours in Fine Art (Combined Media) from Swansea Metropolitan University (now University of Wales Trinity St Davids), Ashill has an MFA degree from Glasgow School of Art (2015), and has exhibited work nationally and internationally. Kathryn was recently a Future Wales Fellow for Arts Wales (2023).

Website: kathrynashill.com

Instagram: @kathryn_ashill

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BASIC TALKS is a series of informal talks with leading contemporary practitioners. Curated by Basic Space in partnership with the Hugh Lane Gallery, BASIC TALKS is an open platform for lectures, workshops, presentations and performances. Speakers include artists, curators, writers and critics who generate discourse on producing, framing and exhibiting art.

BASIC TALKS are FREE book below or come on the day subject to availability. 

Get your free ticket here