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About

I am a Zimbabwean artist based in Manchester. My practice explores themes of displacement and belonging as a migrant living in the diaspora. I work mainly in sculpture and installation, repurposing everyday materials such as newspapers and tin cans. These humble materials are embedded with meaning, memories and stories. 

Through my work these materials are transformed and given permanence. This repurposing characterises my practice and draws from my childhood in Zimbabwe, where nothing is thrown away - everything is repurposed.

 

I came to the Uk in 2005 to study Fine Art at Cumbria Institute of the  Arts. Since then I have lived and worked as an artist, teacher, workshop facilitator and mother. 

I have lived not only in Zimbabwe but also spent a few years in Cape Town which inspired work such as ‘Beacon Valley’. In my practice I have made work in response to migration with the hope of taking back control of the narrative of what it means to be a migrant.

More recently I have been focusing on my personal narrative of being a migrant.  By pairing objects from my home country with materials found in my new home I hope to explore

the tension of belonging to the land of my past with the land I now inhabit.

CV

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Current Consultancy

2024-25  Lowry Artist advisory group, The Lowry, Salford.

 

Workshops

October 2023  Temporary shelters, Leeds City of Culture 2023, Henry Moore Institute, Leeds.

August 2023   Temporary Shelters, Henry Moore Institute, Leeds

October 2022  Teacher CPD, Sculpting Landscapes, Henry Moore Institute, Leeds.

August 2022 Sculpting landscapes, Henry Moore Institute, Leeds

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Higher Education

2005-2009          2:1 Bachelors of Fine Art (HONS) University of Cumbria, U.K.

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Group Exhibitions

2021 Sep    HOME: Manchester Open Art Exhibition, Manchester. 

2019 Mar    Rocking The Boat, Creative Recycling Gallery, Chorlton, Manchester.

2014 Mar    The Luck Of Edenhall, The Old Fire Station, Carlisle. 

2010 Nov   The Meeting Point, National Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe.

2009 Jul     Summer Exhibition, Cecil Street Projects, Carlisle, England.

2009 Jul     Summer Exhibition, Bank Gallery, Carlisle, England.

2009 Jun    This side of Somewhere, University of Cumbria, Carlisle, England.

2008 Dec    Love in the Asylum, Wasps Studios, Glasgow, Scotland.

2008 Sep    Liquidizer, Vault Gallery, Lancaster, England 

2008 Feb    Seconds Out- Redefined, University of Cumbria, Carlisle, England

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Solo Exhibitions

2010 May    In search of the Promised Land, Carlisle Cathedral, Carlisle, England

2016 Jun     In search of the Promised Land, Alexandria Library, Manchester.


Grants/ Awards/ Residencies

2007-2009  University of Cumbria, Undergraduate Scholarship.

2009         Undergraduate Arts Achievement Award, University of Cumbria.

 

Commissions

2013 Nov  Illustration for cover of GWC Annual Report, Cape Town, South Africa

 

Reviews/ Press

​ https://www.castlefieldgallery.co.uk/castlefield-gallery-associates-spotlight-ashleigh-beattie/

 

“Zimbabwe: Breda New Art Sensation”, T. Monda, The Zimbabwe Herald.

 http://allafrica.com/stories/201010261145.html

 

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CONTACT

Contact

If you'd like to know more about my work or about the workshops I deliver please get in touch.

ashleighbeattieis@hotmail.com

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