Ashley Feagin
Ashley Feagin explores stories through photographs, installations, performances, and collaborations. Feagin’s work stems from an endless stream of internal questions. Feagin’s curiosities are filtered through her queer identity and Southern upbringing; she reimagines failure and questions all possibilities by embracing any medium that makes the most sense.
Feagin’s work is featured in several books published by Vermont Photography Workplace: “Poetic Objects: Still Life As Subject”,” Home… is Where the Camera Is”, and “Redefining the Self Portrait”. Her work is also featured in the traveling group exhibition; “Spinning Yarns: Photographic Storytellers”. She has presented lectures for the Society for Photographic Education and the Mid-American College Art Association at both their regional and national conferences.
About Me
Feagin received her BA in Photography from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana in 2009 and received her MFA from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana in the spring of 2012. She is an active member of the Society for Photographic Education, the Texas Photographic Society, the Houston Center of Photography, and the Mid-America College Art Association. Currently. She is an Associate Professor of Art and Chair of the Art and Art History Department at Albion College in Albion, Michigan.
Artwork
My connection to water has its roots in my childhood spent playing in the brown, fragrant bayous of Louisiana's southern coast, which would often leave stains on my clothes. As I grew older, I felt a growing desire to establish a more profound bond with the water in the place I now call home; the Kalamazoo River.
To better understand water and its significance, I delved into literature, including "Braiding Sweetgrass" by Robin Wall Kimmerer and “The Source: How America Made Its Rivers and Rivers Made America” by Martine Dole. These texts provided me with a foundation rooted in historical, biological, and indigenous perspectives on our relationship with the land we inhabit. It's important to note that I am a white, queer woman in the process of learning how to connect with the land, rivers, and ecosystems that have long been inhabited and shaped by indigenous communities. Part of this work has been internally unpacking colonization's impact on this land.
Artist Statement
The creative process for the project I'm presenting began with visits to the Kalamazoo River, where I collected water samples. These samples were then examined under a microscope and photographed. The tiny microorganisms that gracefully move across the microscope slide unveil an intricate and captivating world, serving as a visual bridge between myself and the vast cosmos. These observations humbly remind me that, as an individual, my significance may seem small in the grand scheme of existence. However, I find completeness through my interconnectedness with the entirety of the natural world.
