Carly Ashdown Contemporary/Figurative Artist – M P Gallery

Carly’s earliest memories are of picking up a pencil and drawing pictures of people. Carly was fascinated by human interaction and as a child these imaginative sketches were her way of processing the world around her. They helped her understand the world and her place in it, and creating the illusionary quality of movement allows her to experience a feeling of release.

After completing an Art and Design degree focusing on film and photography, Carly went onto enjoy a flourishing career in television, working for organisations such as the BBC and Channel 4. But eventually Carly’s instinct to draw and paint deposed her previous career path, and she began to hone her skill. She soon became fascinated by what paint is capable of and its ability to seduce the viewer through illusion.

From a very young age, Carly was fascinated by human interaction and the nature of being human which has influenced her work in many ways as she started training in psychotherapy at the Tavistock and volunteered at Mind in London. As she followed her desire to understand the human experience, exploring how we come to understand ourselves, the world around us, and the idea of personal transformation, it fed into and supported the development of her art.

“What unifies us is an inner beauty which we all share and that’s really at the heart of my work.”

One of her greatest artistic influences is Jackson Pollock who pioneered the unique technique of drip painting, and a similarly abstract style can be seen in Carly’s work, integrated with figurative painting.