Ash Adams is a prolific artist, advocate, and educator based in Canada. With a BFA in ceramics from the Alberta College of Art + Design (2018) and certification in Expressive Arts Therapy, Adams embraces an ongoing journey of learning and creative growth.
As a co-founder of Superbloom Collective, Adams has been instrumental in fostering empathetic and connective approaches to art through public installations, murals, and workshop facilitation. They are also a member of Basic Income Calgary Arts Collective, a group of ten artists representing the Artists with Disabilities (AWD) community. Their collaborations with prominent organizations like Shaw and TV Tokyo have enriched their practice with a breadth of national and global experiences, including the rare opportunity to work with Japan’s National Living Treasures.
Adams’s work is subversive, challenging conventional perspectives and inviting the viewer to engage with complex layers of meaning. As a genderqueer 2Spirit individual, their art becomes a vehicle for exploring identity, mortality, and the body through a wide range of materials and techniques. With a deep fascination for materiality and the transformative power of colour, Adams’s work invites intimate reflection on themes of presence, change, and the human condition.
My recent work expresses ideas around choices and mortality as well as identity and the body. I explore concepts of gender through acrylic paintings, mixed media sculptural tableaux and murals. I use my expertise in ceramics to cast parts of my body to manipulate ideas and tell stories. I have a high attention to detail and a fascination with colour. Bright high-contrast colours are employed to create complex backgrounds with a pulsing effect, creating a unique visual experience. Using acrylic paints I arrange objects on explosive coloured backgrounds. I want my work to overwhelm and hypnotize the viewer. The backgrounds create an optical illusion, and manipulating my reference images allows me to influence the narrative. I intend to continue my exploration of immersive gallery spaces through detailed works and removable wall coverings, allowing me to integrate the surfaces of the gallery into the installation. And inviting the audience to fully immerse themselves in the colourful, stimulating, vibrating experience.
