Nature + Communication with Ashley Eliza Williams

Ashley Eliza Williams (she/her) is a painter, sculptor, and amateur ecologist exploring new ways of interacting with nature and with each other. She received a BA from UVA and an MFA from The University of Colorado, Boulder. She is a recent MASS MoCA North Adams Project grantee and has been a resident artist at Vermont Studio Center, Anderson Ranch, Millay Colony, Alte Schule Germany, the Shangyuan Art Museum in China, and the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally at museums, galleries, and scientific institutions. She is a member of the research-focused NYC art collective Sprechgesang Institute. Williams has taught painting, sculpture, and color theory for six years. She currently lives in Massachusetts.

In this episode, Ashley and Brandi talk about the intersections of Nature + Communication, including:

• Anxiety, awkwardness, and “failed” communication attempts.
• The dialogue between plants, animals, and even celestial bodies.
• The “mutual aid” practices of nature, like lichen and trees.
• Why Ashley became an environmentalist at an early age.
• What lichen communicate to us about pollution.
• How our language about the natural world shapes our engagement with it.
• The Western perception of time as scarce.
• Ashley’s dad and his creative way of conjuring up original bedtime stories.
• Her fascination with magical beings and the history of monsters.
• Why we might pray to pollinator deities in the future.
• The ancient memory of rocks and trees.
• And much more.

Listeners can find Ashley online, at ashleyelizawilliams.com, and on Instagram @ashleyelizawilliams.

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Music: The in-house musicians at Slip.stream
Audio Engineering: The team at Upfire Digital