Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — Ashley Kinser compares her relationship with art to being a victim of the siren song.
Although she never had any formal training, she’s been curious about expressing herself through graffiti and pop surrealism her whole life. Now she is a multimedia artist who creates jewelry, paintings and whatever pops into her head.
In high school, she would skip class and spend hours painting canvases in her room.
Kinser works what she calls her “day job” as a graphic designer only twice a week and has been putting more energy into her art career.
“Any other day, I can be found in my shared warehouse studio space with five fellow makers busting my fingers on one project or another, sawing, routing, painting, planning, vectorizing, mixing color or whatever,” Kinser said. “I would definitely say at this point that art is taking over my life. It is much more than a side project.”
Not only is she working in 2D art, but Kinser creates flashy geometric jewelry and sells it on Etsy as "GlitterGutterGlamour."
"In my jewelry I have always taken inspiration from historically powerful imagery, bold colors, reflective materials which literally make one shine, and eye catching geometric pattern," Kinser said.
Kinser explained her studio as being in a state of limbo. She said when she works on a project, she lets the materials fall where they may, but always cleans up after a project to clear her mind for something new.
“Right now my studio has a giant pile of hand renderings lying on the table, giant group of paint buckets set aside in color schemes, some spray paint crates stacked full to the brim, a stack of some in progress projects, and six huge wooden hands tucked in literally every corner they will fit in,” Kinser said, referring to her recent show “Spirit offering,” at the FICE Gallery. The show focused on mudras, a type of yoga for your hands.
Ashley Kinser
She said lately her saving grace has been to work in her sketchbook, with no pressure or expectations.
“Just winding down and working on something just for me,” Kinser said. “And the imagery that’s coming out (is) really great.”
Kinser will be painting a 1,300-square-foot mural at the Lava Hot Springs Inn and continues to update an online gallery in the meantime. She hopes people enjoy her art, but said she thinks it always varies. She will also be at Craft Lake City in August.
“I would rather let that be a personal thing for the viewer and the piece of art themselves and let my own interaction with my art remain sacred for myself in that way,” Kinser said.
Amanda is a writer and pop culture fanatic who studied journalism at BYU. She has written for a candy store, a US Senator, Deseret News, an art museum, Entertainment Weekly magazine, a beauty company, KSL and several artists and musicians. Find her on Twitter @amandataylor88.
