Teacher Legacy: A legacy of connections made over time. The product of teaching is a legacy of learners.
Zak Ashburn
Prior student of Wendie Love
Farragut High School 2010
As an artist I don’t like to define myself in ways that limit other people's perception of my artwork, because I work through so many mediums in my practice I can’t really claim to be any one thing. I can however claim myself and my work. My name is Zak and this is how I think about my artistic practice. When I started making art ten years ago I could only see myself as a ceramic artist and I was really good at that, but I started to feel boxed in by that label and where I was in life. So I took some steps back and some steps in different directions and now I am so many other things; I am a multimedia artist and my artwork reflects that. My practice can incorporate aspects of metalworking, ceramics, woodworking, and photography. Most of my recent work has been large sculptural ceramic vessels but I am very passionate about the metalwork and casting in my artistic practice and love to push the boundaries of what I can cast with.
As I’ve grown over the years so has my practice, but one thing that connects all of my pieces is the level of conceptuality that I put into my work. To name a few themes that I like to work with in my pieces I like to touch on concepts of identity, sexuality, human connection, gender, and racial experience, I look to what's around me for inspiration and most of the time the best topics come from my experience. It is important to me as an artist to produce work that has substance and that evokes some kind of emotional response in the viewer because I am sharing something largely personal.
As an artist, I want to make meaningful pieces that speak about my experiences and identity and hopefully touch others who can relate to what I speak about with my work. My practice is a very cathartic experience for me, each time I make something it feels like I’m letting go of something that I’ve held close. By nature, I am a very introverted person and I’ve found that I make art about myself to relate better to others and the world around me, and really I only wish for other people to do the same with these little public pieces of myself.
Reach out to me if you have any questions about a piece or want to talk about a commission.
Contact Zak
BFA Show
Instagram