Today we’d like to introduce you to Andie Aylsworth.
Andie, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My art practice is centered around humankind’s relationship with the natural world and our society’s supposed separation between nature and culture. According to Manacorda, the danger lies in “segregating nature into a separate space, remote from mankind’s everyday life and culture, totally disconnected from our responsibilities and actions.” This separation only exists because we perceive ourselves as part of a society removed from the natural world when in reality, there is no distinction between nature and culture. One cannot exist without the other and instead of viewing them as separate entities, we must acknowledge that they are in fact, one. Mark Dion puts it best by stating, “The paradox of relocated wilderness to serve people’s purposes points to our misconception of the environment as detached from everyday life.”
What I hope to accomplish through my work is a “come-togetherness” sense to break down western-centric environmentalism, which is focused on the distinction between culture and nature, and instead move towards the cohesion that is achieved in indigenous knowledge. This separation never arose in these spaces because they view nature as their culture, with no distinctions. We must believe that human interaction with the natural world need not result in the degradation of natural habitats and landscapes. I hope to remove the distinction between nature and culture by creating an innate and personal conversation with all the materials I use in my practice, mainly by creating what I can myself through responsible and conservation-based methods. In doing so I hope to prove that humankind does not stand outside of nature.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
All the things that I have struggled with in the past is just that in the past. There really isn’t anything that I wouldn’t work through because there is no other option for me, this is my path in life and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
We’d love to hear more about your art.
I would describe it as a creative co-housing my art practice. I specialize in large scale installation artworks that also allow for audience interaction with the work to break down the barrier between viewer and artwork. I am probably most proud of my 2017 participation in Miami Art Week, it wasn’t my first time participating in Basel week, but it was the first time my identity as an artist was most accurately portrayed in the work I exhibited, formerly Young Artist Initiative. I think one thing that would distinguish me from others was my early involvement in the Miami art scene and being a part of it since I was 15, working for companies in the scene as well as showing my own work.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Honestly, it would have to be YoungArts week, which is a week of creating and networking for YoungArts finalists to all come together in Miami and celebrate each other. The community that I was exposed to at YoungArts was so inspiring and supportive and still is to this day and I expect it to be that way with these amazing people for a long time.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://andieaylsworth.com
- Phone: 3054968010
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: andie.aylsworth.art
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