Ashley Jameson Eriksmoen

Ashley Jameson Eriksmoen is a visual arts researcher with more than 20 years of experience as a designer, maker, and educator, engaging in Practice-led Research that straddles sculpture, contemporary studio craft, and critical design. Since 2012, she has been Senior Lecturer at the School of Art & Design at Australian National University, where she is the discipline lead in wood/furniture and teaches courses such as 'The Ethics of Making: Design for Reparative Practices'.

Over the past decade, Ashley has been salvaging timber and appropriating discarded wood furniture to construct her artworks. Her work addresses deforestation, reduction of wildlife habitat, contested/shared landscapes, natural resource use, consumerism and waste. She is a strong believer in the power of contemporary craft and design as a means of tackling pressing environmental and societal issues. Ashley's work is exhibited nationally and internationally, most recently in Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, and will be shown at Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe in March, 2023. She was the winner of both the 2021 Clarence Prize for Excellence in Furniture Design, and the 2022 Australian Furniture Design Awards. Her work is in the collections of the NGV (Melbourne), the RISD Art Museum (Providence, USA) and The Center for Art in Wood (Philadelphia).

Ashley hails from California, where she was an engineering geologist prior to becoming incurably obsessed with woodworking and furniture design. She has a lifelong interest in environmental issues and the longevity of objects. She is currently collecting broken wood chairs for her next major project.
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EXPERIENCE
2012-present—Australian National University School of Art & Design, Senior Lecturer
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EDUCATION
Master of Fine Arts, Furniture Design—Rhode Island School of Design, 2000.
Advanced Certificate, Fine Woodworking—College of the Redwoods (The Krenov School), 1998.
Bachelor of Science, Geological Sciences—Boston College, 1992.