Believe in Yourself

About

Ashleigh Sumner’s striking mixed-media artworks are created by layering spray paint, photographs, acrylic paint and resin on wood panels. The combination of these elements is intended to evoke a powerful sense of unrestrained vitality to the viewer.

Ashleigh Sumner’s artwork is heavily inspired by the modern day street art movement as well as American Pop Culture. Her mixed-media process incorporates iconic images along with photographs captured on her cell phone. These photos are printed and applied repeatedly to wooden surfaces, creating multiple stacked and torn layers of distressed paper imagery. Sumner’s natural love of text is often implemented throughout the work by incorporating pages from books of poetry, verse, lyrics and theatrical plays in a way that often makes a political or social statement involving class, gender, poverty and equality.

The surface and sides of this 40 inch square original artwork are covered with a smooth layer of clear, glass-like resin, which enhances the colors and adds depth. It is signed on the back by the artist. The reflective sheen and polished look of the resin enhance the unique contrast to the distressed layers underneath, adding a fascinating window into the work. This painting does not require framing. It is wired and ready to hang. Free local Los Angeles area delivery. Affordable US and worldwide shipping. A certificate of authenticity and hanging hardware are included.

Ashleigh Sumner is a self-taught artist living and working out of the Arts District in downtown Los Angeles. Born in 1979, Sumner received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Western Carolina University before moving West to Los Angeles.

Her contemporary artworks tackle current and historic events, locations and celebrities, conveying messages through paint that have collectors craving to own one of her works. The heavy use of spray paint or “graffiti ramblings” is repeated over and over again, illegibly, often as a single song lyric, poem or historic quote. House paint is applied, scrapped and splattered throughout the work then partially sanded away with an industrial hand sander. Lastly, several heavy layers of resin are added to each to create a smooth, modern finish to the distressed, gritty artwork underneath. The resin provides a window into the work, adding to the urban experience and infuses the artwork with an invitation to discover the many layers of our world.

In 2014, Sumner was named by a juried panel the winner of the Red Bull Curates Competition for Los Angeles. As a result, Sumner’s work was highlighted in a special exhibition with SCOPE, Miami at that year’s Art Basel Miami Beach. In addition, Sumner proudly curated “Street Preachers: An Exhibition of Female Street Artists in Los Angeles” at the Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock in 2012. “Street Preachers” was awarded grants from both the Pasadena Art Alliance and the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.