Marlena Ashby

In this photographic study titled Full Circle, Marlena Ashby explores the female experience of coming into adulthood through mother-daughter relationships by examining her own relationship with her mother. Using archival imagery of her mother at her own age, and newly produced self portraits, she seeks to discover the connections and shared trauma that emerge as daughters grow into adulthood. Because of her mother’s aversion to being photographed, she made portraits of her and her mother without showing her entirely to respect her boundaries. The main realization that occured in Ashby’s research was the mental effect of her mother’s perception of self subconsciously projected onto her daughter. Ashby and her mother participate in common mother-daughter interactions symbolizing pressures from society on young women and the desire to live vicariously through our children.

She continuously tried to mimic a self portrait polaroid taken by her mother around her own age, which is the only existing self portrait she has ever taken. These images not only show the physical similarities between them, but the feeling of connection as her relationship with her mother shifts from one of authority to one of understanding. Ashby displays the possible connections other young women can discover in their mother daughter relationships.

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Marlena Ashby

Where do you see your art going in the future? Where do you hope for it to go?

I think a lot of my art making practice will take place online, which is the best for me because I can go anywhere and expose my work to a much larger group of people. I want to work for myself, so I’m more free in where I go and what I make.

How do you define personal success and failure in terms of your art making?

As long as I am interested in what I’m making then I will always have that drive to continue, but I personally recognize success as my work having an affect on other people. I find happiness in that, but also just being able to make a living doing something I love would be a success to me