We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ashley Chew. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ashley below.

Hi Ashley, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with a fun one – what’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?

That Art is only meant for wealthy people and that we should tolerate gatekeepers finding ways to make Art inaccessible. If you create, you are an Artist, if you view and appreciate Art, you are a patron. Think about it, most people are/were being taught Art in grade school. I acknowledge that programs are losing support and disappearing. Into adulthood people start to lose their curiosity. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard the sentence “Oh, I used to draw as a kid”. The perception of artist and galleries can be intimidating, I completely understand. As a marginalized Artist, many spaces have not felt welcome to me, but we can’t measure creation on the space it inhabits. If you create, regardless of location, education, mediums, and occupation you are an Artist. Professional or leisure, you are an Artist. Galleries are not the only end goal. Your Art will be as accessible as you make it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Ashley Chew and I am a Visual Artist. I work primarily in acrylic paint, however I work in Fashion Illustration, murals, installations, hand-lettering, graphite, and textiles. I have a lifelong curiosity for all things Art, Design, and Film. I have been an Artist for as long as I can remember. I was a quieter child, always felt different. So I used Art to communicate. To this day, I don’t speak much on Social Media, I talk with my paintings. With clients I solve their problems, with my work I solve my own. Art is my therapy, I hope that my paintings feel like a community for others. I paint rest, I paint ease. I am proud of myself for still growing that inner child and remaining curious.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

What has helped my reputation in my market is always being prepared. When you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready. I make sure everything from my website, to catalog, to paintings are updated and polished. You never know when an opportunity may present. People run things by me in emails, DMs, and word of mouth, from there I can decide. Even if a client or situation is very unorganized, unclear, or even falls through, I can look back like “It’s ok, I gave it 100%, and I was prepared”. Discouragement is very real, but I choose to remain on top of things.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

With the times rapidly changing, I am still discovering new resources. I am still very old-fashion about books. I collect a ton of books. Websites and the validity of the information can be shaky, there’s a lot of misinformation floating around. Luckily, with Social Media I am finding more people are willing to share their resources and how they did something. Tik Tok has been an incredible resource these last couple of months. This lets me know people do still want to see other people succeed.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ashleybchew.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ash_chew/

Image Credits
All photos and work courtesy of Ashley Chew