Basic Talks: Kathryn Ashill (ONLINE)
About this Event

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).

Basic Talks is a series of talks with leading contemporary practitioners, taking place at the Hugh Lane Gallery. Curated by Basic Space in partnership with Hugh Lane Gallery, BASIC TALKS is a platform for lectures, workshops, presentations, and performances. Speakers include artists, curators, writers, and critics who will generate discourse on producing, framing and exhibiting art. BASIC TALKS is a collaboration between Basic Space and the Hugh Lane Gallery, exploring alternatives in the dissemination of contemporary art and its discourses.