current
Exhibition
Vinegar Bath
1 February - 22 February 2025

Please scroll down to see available works, priced from $350. 

 

This February, Artereal is excited to present Ashlee Becks second solo exhibition with the gallery. Titled Vinegar Bath, the exhibition will showcase a ‘series of new paintings exploring themes of self-discovering, isolation and co-dependency through thick impasto mark making.

“I am an impasto painter specialising in the need to better understand and live with the self. A material sensibility guides my work, with thick impasto mark making acting as a metaphor for self-discovery and healing. My paintings include self-portraits, figuration, various types of flora, and still-life, and draw on digitally cropped and collaged reference photographs. Inspired by Realism and artists from Lucian Freud to Frida Kahlo, my self-portraits are not intended to be flattering. They aim to depict everyday life: its banality, beauty, and hardships. Through intricate details juxtaposed with loving, performative, and visceral paint strokes, I enable viewers to sense my presence as an artist.”

Vinegar Bath is both a self-portrait of the artist and of home. A contradictory place for her that is both strangely hostile yet a haven.

Acidic, astringent vinegar, when mixed with water for a vinegar bath becomes an unlikely therapeutic salve; rendering the bath a place of comfort and self-care. These opposing aspects of pain and pleasure epitomise Ashlee’s approach to painting and to being at home: “at once a place of sanctuary but also a place where I feel lonely and where my mental illness can be exacerbated…”

Swathes of rich viscous oil paint applied with palette knife build on the canvas. Each pass of the blade and impasto layer is evidence of the artist, her presence and labour and process of self-discovery.

Vinegar Bath is a collage of many, many paintings that are widely diverse in scale. Colours are muted. Soft peaches, pinks and lilac hues. Garden greens, olives, citrus, and greys, and lots of creamy white. Every work contributes to the sense of what it is like to live in the artist’s home.

Selected paintings in the exhibition are suspended on lilac ribbons that pool and spill on the gallery floor; an intimate gesture from the artist to the viewer who is encouraged to explore their own relationships to home and to self.

Barbara Dowse
Curator

‘I see right through you’, aims to examine the sometimes abusive relationship between body and image. Through tender and loving impasto application, Becks seeks to redefine how we view ourselves. A self-portrait, the work see’s Becks stare into a mirror where her body is reflected. This speaks to the artists own experience with mental illness and the mismatch that can occur between personal perception and reality. The materiality of the painting lends itself to an indexical sensibly where the artist is present. Becks hopes that speaking openly about her struggle with body image will inspire viewers to treat their bodies more compassionately.

Home is not my own’ investigates how materiality and painting can be used to explore and depict mental illness. Part of a wider series of work, the painting explores themes of self-imposed isolation and loneliness within the home. For many home is a safe space, but what happens when intrusive and destructive thoughts make your home theirs? What do you do when you can’t be alone but the thought of leaving the house induces deep dread? The use of impasto speaks to these questions and the anxiety that accompanies it. Some marks are detailed and intricate, others violent and expressive. It is hoped that by being transparent with the struggles that accompany mental illness, others will feel more comfortable to do the same.

‘From Emily’ depicts a dining room table adorned with a vase of tulips. Suspended above the table as though floating, is a cropped image of a bedside table. Below is another embedded image of a bathroom selfie. The figure stands alone, unclothed, and small. The painting is at once banal and unsettling in its intimacy. Home and moments of isolation become monumental with the generous application of oil paint and care to detail. This everyday autobiographical portrait subverts the tradition of picturing important figures at their best and enables viewers a more comprehensive insight into the life of the artist.

 

Artwork photography by Louis Lim. Installation photography by Jessica Maurer.

All prices are in Australian dollars and inclusive of GST. Freight costs not included. Prices are correct at the time of publication but may be subject to change without notice.

For information on paying off artworks in instalments please contact the gallery.

Ashlee Becks

Vinegar Bath

2024
oil on canvas
180 x 120cm
$12,000
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Ashlee Becks

Brat

2024
oil on canvas
180 x 120cm
P.O.A.
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Ashlee Becks

From Emily

2024
oil on canvas
180 x 120cm
$12,000
Buy Now
Ashlee Becks

Bedroom

2024
oil on canvas
150 x 100cm
$9,900
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Ashlee Becks

I see right through you

2023
oil on canvas
120 x 90cm
$9,000
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Ashlee Becks

Cream Silk I

2023
oil on canvas
120 x 90cm
$9,000
Buy Now
Ashlee Becks

Pillow talk

2023
oil on canvas
120 x 90cm
$9,000
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Ashlee Becks

Worst enemy

2023
oil on canvas
120 x 90cm
$9,000
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Ashlee Becks

Lima Street

2024
oil on canvas
90 x 60cm
$4,400 (SOLD)
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Ashlee Becks

Pyjama and undies I

2024
oil on canvas
76 x 60cm
$3,700
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Ashlee Becks

I look down on you

2023
oil on canvas
60 x 50cm
$3,200
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Ashlee Becks

Undies and Pyjamas II

2024
oil on canvas
60 x 50cm
$3,200
Buy Now
Ashlee Becks

Home is not my own

2023
oil on canvas
60 x 50cm
$3,200
Buy Now
Ashlee Becks

Helping hands

2023
oil on canvas
50 x 40cm
$2,800
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Ashlee Becks

Cream silk II

2023
oil on canvas
50 x 40cm
$2,800
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Ashlee Becks

Kitchen II

2024
oil on canvas
40 x 30cm
$2,200
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Ashlee Becks

Pink Silk

2023
oil on canvas
40 x 30cm
$2,200
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Ashlee Becks

Living room

2024
oil on canvas
40 x 30cm
$2,200
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Ashlee Becks

Go to

2023
oil on canvas
30 x 30cm
$1,800
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Ashlee Becks

Bathroom I

2024
oil on canvas
30 x 25cm
$1,600
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Ashlee Becks

Bathroom II

2024
oil on canvas
30 x 25cm
$1,600
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Ashlee Becks

Bin

2024
oil on canvas
30 x 25cm
$1,600
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Ashlee Becks

Nose bleed

2023
oil on canvas
30 x 25cm
$1,600
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Ashlee Becks

Patterns rectangle

2023
oil on canvas
25 x 20cm
$1,300
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Ashlee Becks

Patterns I

2024
oil on canvas
10 x 10cm
$350
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Ashlee Becks

Patterns II

2024
oil on canvas
10 x 10cm
$350
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Ashlee Becks

Patterns III

2024
oil on canvas
10 x 10cm
$350
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Ashlee Becks

Patterns IV

2024
oil on canvas
10 x 10cm
$350
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Ashlee Becks

Silk Patterns I

2023
oil on canvas
10 x 10cm
$350
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Ashlee Becks

Silk Patterns II

2023
oil on canvas
10 x 10cm
$350
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Ashlee Becks

Patterns V

2024
oil on canvas
10 x 10cm
$350
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Ashlee Becks

Patterns VI

2024
oil on canvas
10 x 10cm
$350
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Ashlee Becks

Patterns VII

2024
oil on canvas
10 x 10cm
$350
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Ashlee Becks

Patterns VIII

2024
oil on canvas
10 x 10cm
$350
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Ashlee Becks

Crinkle I

2024
oil on canvas
10 x 10cm
$350
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Ashlee Becks

Crinkle II

2024
oil on canvas
10 x 10cm
$350
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Ashlee Becks

Crinkle III

2024
oil on canvas
10 x 10cm
$350
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Ashlee Becks

Crinkle IV

2024
oil on canvas
10 x 10cm
$350
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Ashlee Becks

Crinkle V

2024
oil on canvas
10 x 10cm
$350
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Ashlee Becks

Crinkle VI

2024
oil on canvas
10 x 10cm
$350
Buy Now

Additional Information

Upcoming Exhibition

main gallery
Kate Vassallo
1 March - 29 March 2025

Previous Exhibition

main gallery
Group Show
22 November - 14 December 2024