Video featuring artist Ashley Page

Meet Ashley Page —

Ashley Page is an interdisciplinary artist living and working in Portland, ME. She presently holds a BFA in Sculpture and a Minor in Public Engagement from Maine College of Art (MECA). As a maker, a curator, a woman of color, a community member, a little sister, and a daughter, she creates space for dialogue, representation, intergenerational exchange, and creative expression. She is currently the Studio and Programs Coordinator at Indigo Arts Alliance, where she works within the intersection of art and activism. In spring 2020, she was awarded the Heart and Soul Student Award by Maine Campus Compact for her D.E.I work as a student while at MECA. In 2018 – 2019, she was a Warren Public Engagement Fellow at MECA where she collaboratively developed her artistic philosophy of representation, diversity, equity, and justice. More recently, she was a 2021 Maine Craft Association Apprenticeship recipient with Lissa Hunter serving as her Mentor in sculptural basketry. Her curatorial and studio practice has been seen in the Center for Afrofuturist Studies, The Abyssinian Meeting House, The Portland Museum of Art, Congress Square Park, Able Baker Contemporary, New Systems Exhibitions, and more.

About this project —

“My practice is a vessel used to present representation and visibility to the Black American mind, body and spirit. Steeped in personal nuance, my work serves as a testament to the beauty, grace, and complexities of the human experience. Stitching together paper, fiber, steel, collected ephemera, and collaborative social projects, I explore the possibilities of expression and liberation. My objects are a hybridization of traditional fiber techniques (basketry, weaving, coiling, etc) and spatial practice to reimagine the human body and explore different modes of portraiture. Smaller Pieces of a Greater Whole is about liberation, growth and creating your own mythologies. Surrounded by Audre Lorde’s words, this work reclaims the power in womanhood and Blackness.” – Ashley Page

The text on the wall reads as follows: “To search for power within myself means I must be willing to move through being afraid to whatever lies beyond. If I look at my most vulnerable places and acknowledge the pain I have felt, I can remove the source of that pain from my enemies’ arsenals. My history cannot be used to feather my enemies’ arrows then, and that lessens their power over me. Nothing I accept about myself can be used against me to diminish me. I am who I am, doing what I came to do, acting upon you like a drug or a chisel to remind you of your me-ness, as I discover you in myself.”

Lorde, Audre, and Mahogany L. Browne. “Eye to Eye: Black Women, Hatred, and Anger by Audre Lord.” Sister Outsider, Penguin Books, New York, NY, 2020, pp. 146–147.

This video was made during the installation of her exhibition at SPACE: “SMALL PIECES OF A GREATER WHOLE”
On view: May 6, 2022 – Jul 6, 2022

Where else can I find your work?
“For folks in Portland, please go check out Painting Nerds, now on view at Able Baker Contemporary until July 16th. Able Baker Contemporary will close its’ doors forever, and it’s so worth witnessing their final show. I also encourage folks to go to the CMCA in Rockland to see the incredible solo shows by Reggie Burrows Hodges and Veronica Perez!” – Ashley Page

Why a video?
“I felt as though this work could be best captured through video, and was excited that our partners at Hero Media were so open and collaborative!” – Ashley Page

Learn more at: www.ashleypagestudio.com

Content Creator: Hero Media Network and Cove Design Works
Hero Media Network and Cove Design Works are the same talented team of digital and print creatives that you’ve come to know as Hero Media Arts. We’re dedicated to showing you in your best light. We practice a collaborative approach and with your input, get you where you want to be. Email Michelle@covedesignworks.com to talk about your website design and build, e-commerce setup, video production, and graphic design services.

The Onion Foundation

The 2022 Maine Craft Content Project is generously funded by the Onion Foundation, the Maine Arts Commission and individual donors. With that funding the Maine Crafts Association provided eight Maine craft artists with new online content to support their practices, tell their stories and grow their businesses.

MCA thanks the Onion Foundation, the Maine Arts Commission and the individual donors for their support of our efforts and artists!

The Maine Crafts Association is a 501(c)(3) which builds upon Maine’s rich craft traditions by nurturing a vibrant, supportive, inclusive craft community with educational programs and resources.

Our ability to accomplish our mission and help artists thrive is reliant on individual contributions.