Ashton Bird

Ashton Bird (born 1990) is an emerging sculptor and installation artist. His work participates in, reflects on, and is influenced by place. Through reclaiming materials pertinent to location, Bird explores the conditions we make to define our places. His current work focuses on the fragmentary effects of time on culture, habit and the constructed environment. Bird was raised on a farm in southeast South Dakota, received his BFA from Minnesota State University-Mankato, apprenticed at Dakota Pottery in South Dakota, studied at Korea University in South Korea while briefly apprenticing at local Itaewon ceramic shop, and received his MFA from Florida State University. From 2015 to 2019, Ashton founded the 501c3 project space SOUP experimental where he curated 50+ on-site exhibitions, 24 video and written interviews, 3 public art crawls and several large-scale national collaborations between universities and private entities. Bird exhibits at traditional institutes, DIY projects, public art events and online venues. Notable locations include: MINT Atlanta, Atlanta Contemporary, Atlanta Fringe Festival, Day & Night Projects Atlanta, Wiregrass Museum of Art, Delaware Contemporary, Psychic Jacuzzi, The Washington Pavilion of South Dakota, 410 Gallery Mankato, Metropolitan Gallery 250 Philadelphia, Manifest Creative Research Gallery & Drawing Center Cincinnati, and Cat Family Records Tallahassee. He recently finished a his 3-month Nexus residency at the Atlanta Contemporary. Currently, Ashton works in Atlanta Georgia, where he is a full-time lighting designer with The Johnson Studio at Cooper Carry.