Ash Kolodner is a multi-disciplinary artist who received their BFA in commercial photography at Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, CA and later earned a master's degree from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Born and raised in Washington D.C., their work spans various media, including photography, painting, sculpture and installation.

With a focus on portraiture, Ash’s work often explores themes of identity and the queer community. Their recent book, Gayface, features diptych portraits of individuals from across the United States, capturing the complexity and vulnerability of their subjects through the use of closed and open eyes. In addition to this, their series of sculptures-turned-works on paper, Plantikins, challenges traditional notions of human-environment interaction through the creation of half-plant, half-human forms.

Throughout their career, Ash’s work in front of the camera has been featured as much as their work behind it. Their personal journey from androgynous model—posing for various ad campaigns and magazines, including Elle, Nylon and Marie Claire—has paralleled their evolution as an artist. Ash’s work is not just an expression of their art, but also a reflection of their own journey of self-discovery. Identifying as non-binary, they explore their transgender sexuality in a forthcoming series of explicit linocuts.

© Ash Kolodner, 2023