Ashley Loc: Finding Beauty in Nature's Fine Details
Nature is rarely about the "big picture" alone; it is a symphony of tiny textures, subtle gradients, and intricate fibers. For artist Ashley Loc, these minute details are the heart of her practice.
Based in Boston, mixed media artist Loc draws inspiration from the curated displays of natural history museums. Her work, which meticulously arranges pressed flowers and leaves to create beautiful botanical collage (Oshibana), serves as a hopeful lens through which to explore issues of climate change and biodiversity loss.
Using Kozo Studio's mulberry paper as a canvas, Loc transforms organic matter into delicate compositions. For Ashley, the choice of material is an integral part of the artwork's lifecycle and its connection to the environment. She shares:
"I am committed to using art materials that can one day be recycled or composted, so that each piece can eventually return to the earth. Using handmade natural papers aligns with my long-term hopes for a future with less waste, while supporting artisans and their livelihoods today."
Cabinet of Curiosities - Eight moth figures meticulously crafted from pressed flower petals and leaves on textured handmade wild flower mulberry paper.
Maple Seed Stars: Two radial star patterns formed from pressed maple seeds on mulberry paper with water hyacinth stem.
Ivy Composition: A scattered arrangement of purple and green pressed ivy leaves on earth-toned handmade mulberry paper.
Persicaria and Hare's Ear: Tall, slender purple flower stalks with green leaves on a translucent, fibrous mulberry paper background.
Taxonomy of a Petal: A 3x3 grid of various purple and red pressed flower fragments mounted on grid patterned handmade mulberry paper.
The Petal Alcove: Statice, Hibiscus, and various flower petals in "rusty rose tones" evoke a sense of nostalgia, turning a simple arrangement into a meditation on time, memory, and the quiet persistence of nature.
