Ashley Jaye Williams

Ashley Jaye Williams is a multidisciplinary artist who has been working and living in Washington DC for the past 13 years. They work primarily with fine art, murals, sculpture, and art installations, but also has experience in traditional animation, performance art, video, printmaking and collage. Their work deals with themes of defiance through otherness, and aims to explore the discord of modern life, identity and technology. They construct densely narrative compositions that are focused on expanding + unpacking subjects who have been flattened by a patriarchal society for capitalistic convenience. Their work questions the conflict that arises from being subjected to externally fabricated versions of oneself that are ultimately false and increasingly technologically derived. Through the visual intersections of social binaries, the artist is able to engage a dialogue with audiences that go beyond the constraints of opposition.

Ashley has created murals and art installations for a variety of clients including Google, The Women’s March, Broccoli City music festival, the Annual Roots Picnic, Long Live Go-Go, 51 For 51, Made In NYC, WeWork, Halcyon, Swatchroom, Maggie O’Neill Fine Art, NextFest DC, Arena Arts Social Club, Songbyrd Cafe, the historic Willard Intercontinental Hotel, and Culture House. Most recently they were commissioned by Ms. Magazine to create a painting for their 50th anniversary cover. They have created live paintings and illustrations for the Washington City Paper; including the October cover for the 2020 Election Issue and the cover for the 2021 Fall Arts Guide. They have exhibited work at Homme Gallery, the Target Gallery at Torpedo Factory, Tiny Art Gallery NYC, Washington Sculptors Group and the Phillips Collection in Washington DC. They have shown in group exhibitions curated by Monochrome Collective, Petworth Arts Collaborative, and No Kings Collective. They are also the recipient of grants from the Washington Project for the Arts, as well as a grant from the Commission of Arts and Humanities in 2020.

Currently the artist lives and works in Washington, DC where they share a studio with their partner and fellow painter Anthony Le.