Ashley Lusietto: Artist in Residence at Zinn Preserve
December 21, 2023 | Topics: featured artist
The Natural Realm presents Ashley Lusietto, who is among 12 artists participating in a year-long residency program called ARTservancy, a collaboration between Gallery 224 in Port Washington and the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust, River Revitalization Foundation, Milwaukee Area Land Conservancy, Tall Pines Conservancy, and Lake Michigan Bird Observatory. The mission of ARTservancy is to promote the visionary work of both the artists and conservationists. Each artist has selected a preserve to spend time in and to engage with.
Artist Statement by Ashley Lusietto
I am a long-time admirer of glaciers. For more than a decade I lived in Wisconsin and sought the sight of glacial-ghosts by spending time in landscapes that were once in their paths. When I moved from south-central Wisconsin to Milwaukee, I began hiking in the Kettle Moraine Forests and the southeast glacial plains. Zinn Preserve is in this area and I learned of its existence from the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust. I decided to spend my residency at Zinn and began visiting it in the fall of 2021.
I became familiar with Zinn via its plants, fungi and living creatures, by its seasons and the material state of its forested wetland. In the frozen months of winter the ground crunched under my feet but by early June I sank up to my ankles. I walked slowly and observed closely. When I was still I saw the veins on dragonfly wings and heard the calling of sandhills cranes. I met the first arrival of the new year, swamp cabbage (aka skunk cabbage), in thawed halos of earth on islands of sedge, undeterred by snow.
My first Zinn works made connections between my narratives and the landscape through forms, patterns and composition in graphite abstractions. In early 2023, I moved to Tennessee and began to approach my work about Zinn from a great distance and with homesickness for my Wisconsin landscapes. I went to the mountains and enveloped myself in Appalachian flora (see Mountain Laurel, 2023), but in my studio I retraced my steps through Zinn and remembered it through my documentation and illustrations from the North American Plants and Animals reference book. In creating images of Zinn, I sought to capture the likenesses of its wildlife and our encounters as I remembered them. The images are dyed into the fibers of silk wearables and the series reflects the lasting influence Zinn has on me, persisting regardless of where I am.
Gallery
Procion MX dye on silk
Procion MX dye on silk
Procion MX dye on silk
Procion MX dye on silk
Procion MX dye on silk
Invitations
Ashley Lusietto’s ARTservancy exhibition is currently on display at Gallery 224, through December 31.
There will be a closing reception and a talk by the artist on December 30, 6:00 – 7:30 pm at the gallery.
Gallery 224 is located at 303 N Franklin St in Port Washington. Hours and more info on the Gallery 224 website.
Bio
Ashley Lusietto is an artist, educator and arts administrator based in central Tennessee. She received her BFA and MFA from the University of Wisconsin – Madison with an emphasis in painting. Her work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions at Portrait Society Gallery, Marian Gallery and Arts and Literature Laboratory and group exhibitions at the Saint Kate Arts Hotel, the Museum of Wisconsin Art and the Trout Museum of Art. She has completed artist residencies at Gallery 224/ARTservancy, the Bubbler and Penland School of Craft’s winter residency. Her commissions include murals at the Madison Public Library and the Museum of Wisconsin Art. Prior to 2023, Ashley taught at Mount Mary University and coordinated programs for the Wormfarm Institute. She is currently the program manager at the Appalachian Center for Craft in Smithville, TN. Her work is represented by Portrait Society Gallery in Milwaukee.
Website: ashleylusietto.com
This residency is sponsored by Ozaukee Washington Land Trust. To learn more about Zinn Preserve go to our Find-a-Park page.
Related stories:
Angela Johnson and Justin Bitner: Artists in Residence at Zinn Preserve
Emily Verbeten: Artist in Residence at Zinn Preserve
This is the latest in our series of featured artists, which is intended to showcase the work of photographers, artists, writers and other creative individuals in our community whose subjects or themes relate in some broad sense to nature, urban nature, people in nature, etc. To see a list of previously featured artists, click here. The work of the 2022-2023 ARTservancy artists in residence is currently being exhibited monthly at Gallery 224. To meet the other ARTservancy artists in residence, click here.
All images courtesy of the artist, except as noted. Ozaukee Washington Land Trust is a project partner of A Wealth of Nature.