Ash Epps is an artist living in Brooklyn, NY. When I asked him for a bio, he said that “he was born in Texas of the Comanche tribe and as punishment for repeated acts of insubordination against his elders, was forced to live in a cave for ten years, surviving mainly on ecstasy and Doritos.” Ash has a very dry sense of humor that I love, and it comes across in his provocative paintings. He actually is from a small town called Amarillo (as are Emmanuel Limon and Elizabeth Ammerman, whom we posted earlier this year) – instead of working at the meatpacking plant, church, or feed store, most of the artistic people leave Amarillo, Ash said. He also mentioned that it’s considered rebellious to be stylish in his home town. Among Ash’s many creative moments are taking toile pants out of garbage cans, mixing them with pieces from threeASFOUR and Jeremy Scott, and spray painting cowboy boots metallic. Ash is a passionate artist and his love of unique style is reflected in the subject matter of many of his pieces which highlight the lack of fashion-individuality in modern culture. Liz Doupnik, also featured on this site, sent me this quote recently by Julian Schnabel and I thought it was befitting of Ash, “I suggest that style is the effect or character, armed with intensity, a sense of purpose, a method, a syntax that reveals the will and need to make something. Style is a fringe benefit of invention and action completed.”
Check out Ash’s Blog.