Ashley McCuller

Artist Statement

Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, in a deeply pious and traditional environment, my ingrained connection to a distinct community and upbringing shapes my sculpture practice. Motivated by my formative influences and long-lasting relationships, I explore themes of circumstance and inheritance through different mediums. I am fascinated by the process of transforming unconventional versions of standard materials, such as bentwood and metal wire, into three dimensional structures. Through repetition and geometric forms, I aim to create a language through objects that reflects how habits are built, inherited, and present an abstracted record of my own life story. Performing tedious labor forms a connection with tangible structures that encapsulates the familiarity with objects and compromise with my personal background I aim to achieve. Scale plays a crucial role in my practice; I often create pieces larger than myself to emphasize the physicality of the process and concept. Through labor, repetition, and material transformation, my artwork reconciles the influence of circumstance with the personal agency to shape and reinterpret ingrained habits and narratives.