Ash Tower

My work for the upcoming Curtin Art Degree Show 30x30 auction fundraiser. Buy some art and help the students put together a sick grad show! FRI 01 MAY 26 - Online Exhibition open via @curtinbfagrads . On-campus exhibition of work 6pm Project Research Space 202.165 Curtin Bentley Campus. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "[Peasants] observe a group of stars in the sky which appear together, and call them a 'hen' (the Pleiades), and from this they claim to know the precise hours of that night. They have their own names for the stars: the lunar star called 'Hesperus' they call 'Sterlone': this star begins to appear at sunset and lasts until dawn. When it sets, the star called the 'second Sterlone' appears; the peasants also call this star "pirbors" (the 'star of the cowherd'). It appears two hours before sunrise, and precedes the sun until it sets." — M. Placucci, 'Usi e pregiudizi de' contadini della Romagna', 1818. "There is no doubt that the science of the heavenly bodies was transmitted to the peasants by pastoral populations, people who slept in the sheepfolds by day and were naturally inclined to scrutinize the mysteries of the sky; the observation of the stars was part of the indispensable stock of knowledge that enabled them to orient themselves in all circumstances and at all moments." — Piero Camporesi, 'The Magic Harvest: Food, Folklore and Society', 1993. p 47.

"The sky here is unfamiliar to me. For a while now I've been staring up to find new patterns in the cosmos, visited briefly by planes and satellites shooting overhead. If I looked into the sky to find my way (or perhaps tell my future) I'm met with unknown constellations leering back. And so, I keep finding the cosmos in the city—stars on the obelisks, in graffiti in the street, on LED signs on the pharmacies, and on the myriad sculptures and edifices of the city. I'm starting to wonder if I see stars everywhere because they're inscribed on the lenses of my eyes or on the inside of my skull, like an image burnt into an old TV screen. It's become an infection of bias, where all I can do is see radiant stars and coiled twisted forms." (Notes from Rome, 2/25) Marble floor of the Upper Hall side chamber, Scuola Grande Arciconfraternita di S. Maria del Carmello, Venice. Oil-soaked paper applique, for an upcoming project.

"On the southern end of the Isola Tiberina there’s a weir, which creates a small waterfall as the Tiber crests over it. While walking, I’d wonder about what sits at the base of that weir—how many padlock keys and lime bikes and Peroni bottles? Would there be anything older? Maybe early modern? Maybe even Renaissance? Surely not, the weir can’t be that old. But down in that silt? Probably pottery sherd, maybe bones. Perhaps a curse tablet? I can dream. Legend states that the island began from dirt collecting on the corpse of Tarquinius Superbus after he was overthrown and tossed into the river. A hospital-island rising from a corpse.* I fantasize about dredging that weir. I’d do the most immaculate and nonsensical archaeology. I’m sure I’d find the answers to everything. Every strange and unanswered question about myself and this place would be unearthed, like a pristine mosaic. I'd find every single star under that mud, and it would exhaust me enough that I'd finally get a good night’s sleep." -- Excerpt from notes about Rome. *My in-house Romanist @kim.harris14 believes that the island is actually formed from Tarquinius Superbus' land (from the Campus Martius), piled into the river after he's expelled from Rome, citing 'Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome' (D. Kyle). I've retained my error for both poetic possibilities.

Old friends in new configurations. ✨ @britishschoolatrome Summer Open Studios Wednesday 11th June 4-7pm Thursday 12th June 6-10pm My final gig at the BSR 🥲 @samstagscholarships

💫 NEW ON THE BLOG 💫 Ash Tower, Samstag Scholar, speaks about his research ahead of the Summer Open Studios 2025 #meetheartist “Even fallen, the stars had a gravity—they attracted meaning, significance, profundity. Even fallen, people still poured their world into them, and found that the stars could take it all, and more. Even fallen, they could accommodate as much hope as a person could possibly produce.” The artists' studios will be open to the public on 11 June 2025 from 4 to 7 pm, and the private view will take place on Thursday 12 June from 6 to 10 pm, featuring a special evening reception. Check the link in our bio to read the interview & to have more info regarding the open studios 🎨 📸 1. Ash Tower in his studio, 2025. Photo by @luanarigolli 2. 3. Ash Tower, Studio Detail, 2025

Some of the beautiful essay @fbl_fio has written for my work in 'Cloistered' @britishschoolatrome "[T]he installation captures the layered narrative of Rome as a prism of empire, where history's long arc of authority, conquest, renewal and resistance persists in ever-shifting guises. [...] 'argento fra le stelle' collapses the city's countless temporalities into the everyday, questioning what monumentalities still hold sway and what new ones are shaping the contours of our present." (Fabiola Fiocco) Image: 'argento fra le stelle' (detail), 2025, dimensions variable. Tarpaulin, scaffolding, marble, plastic, weeds, snail shells, grow lamps. @samstagscholarships

"[...] The stars turned their eyes downwards to the people as they asked all sorts of fates and fortunes. But when they looked down from such height they were suddenly beset by a great vertigo, and some of the stars lost their grip on the sky. As they fell, they settled into the minds of the sculptors, who dutifully laid them into the floors of the cathedrals and the walls of grand houses. [...] The stars were slowly consumed by the hungry city where they became familiar and invisible, set to a clamour of signs underneath a shroud of distraction. Over time, most people forgot about the stars, but a faint stellar chorus still hummed in the peoples' minds, like a spiderweb in the sunlight. One day or maybe one millennium later—through a disaster, a miracle, or some furtive chord—they re-emerged. They became magnetic and irresistible. It was a plague! A star-sickness had slithered into the minds of the people, who now saw them everywhere. They awoke in a graveyard of stars—worm-eaten and petrified, but stars nonetheless. The star-sick people captured them, shared them, and chortled at their own sorry state, because they had forgotten the ways to speak with them. To this day, the star's chorus is still threaded through the minds of the star-sick, as a filament of light, a kind of lonely rapture or a private myth. And the stars persist, above and below, leering down on the city and its listless folk. Having forgotten how to speak, most people ignore the stars—but some of them still go to the roof on warm nights, and stare upward in silent communion." ~ A hefty fragment of my forthcoming text in the @britishschoolatrome blog, ahead of the open studios. on the Wednesday the 11th of June. @samstagscholarships

Some snaps of 'Border Chronicle' at @goolugatupheathcote , a collab between @kieronbroadhurst and I. Huge thanks to everyone who came out for it. Massive, massive thanks to @kieronbroadhurst for being on the ground for everything, and for adapting to working at a distance for the collab. Thanks to @andy_clockwise for the sick fabrication, and @__pb_________ and the rest of team for an awesome install. And to @jackwansbrough for a rockin catalogue essay, you can read it on the Goolugatup website. If you're in Perth, show's up until the 18th of May xx All images: Kieron Broadhurst and Ash Tower, 'Border Chronicle', 2025. Ceramic, acrylic, PVA, tea, jarrah, felt, ink, pins, laminate. Dimensions variable. Photo: Aaron Claringbold.

Details of Venice 1. Mary holding the infant Christ, Chiesa di San Marcuola / Chiesa dei SS. Ermagora e Fortunato. 2. “[E]dificio di riclette / Palace of Recipes” (Detail), Venezia, 1526. Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana. 3. Funerary monument to Antonio Canova (Detail), ~1822. Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. 4. Blocco con ammoniti / Block of Ammonites [Dactylioceras sp.] (Detail), Triassic Period, Peru. Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia. 5. Marco and Francesco Cozzi, Timber inlay (Detail), Choir, Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. 6. Stromatolites produced by cyanobacteria (Detail), Precambrian Period, Bolivia. Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia. 7. Marco and Francesco Cozzi, Wooden Choir Bays, 1468, Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. 8. Carved Toucan Beak, Wunderkammer Room, Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia. 9. Giovanni Maria Morlaiter, (Alcove detail) Madonna of the Rosary, 18th Century, Chiesa di Sant’Alvise, Cannaregio. 10. Archaeopteryx lithographica, Cretaceous Period, Solnhofen, Germany. Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia. 11. Mosaic repair of large floor tile (Detail), Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta, Torcello. 12. Gregorio Lazzarini, “Adoration of the Magi” (Detail), 1703. Upper Hall, Scuola Grande Arciconfraternita di S. Maria del Carmello. 13. Giovanni Bellini, “Sacra Conversazione con i SS. Francesco, Giovanni Battista, Giobbe, Domenico, Sebastiano, Ludovico detta Pala di San Giobbe” (Detail), 1487. Gallerie dell'Accademia di Venezia. 14. Upper Hall, Scuola Grande Arciconfraternita di S. Maria del Carmello. 15. Ceiling of Room I (Detail), Gallerie dell'Accademia di Venezia. 16. Basilica Santa Maria della Salute, Venezia. 17. Porta della Carta, Doge’s Palace, Venezia.

Smashing away at some marble with the help and guidance of @isottapage Such a great day!

"He left because he hoped that the streets, the squares, the avenues would restore something within him that had vanished... He thought that looking at the sky, the heavens... [...] He was obsessed by the dried-up lake, the bas-reliefs. He felt like he was being crushed by those images of stone and he was looking all around, searching for space. He was looking at houses, at treetops, at the stars..." Giorgio De Maria, 'The Twenty Days of Turin' p8-9.

💫 NEW ON THE BLOG 💫 A conversation with @ash.tower Samstag Scholar in the Visual Arts #meetheartist “The sky here is unfamiliar to me. For a while now I’ve been staring up to find new patterns in the cosmos, visited briefly by planes and satellites shooting overhead. If I looked into the sky to find my way (or perhaps tell my future) I’m met with unknown constellations leering back. And so, I keep finding the cosmos in the city—stars on the obelisks, in graffiti in the street, on LED signs on the pharmacies, and on the myriad sculptures and edifices of the city.” The artist’s studio will be open to the public on 5 March 2025, from 18 to 20.30 and on 6 March from 16 to 19. Check the link in our bio to read the interview & to have more info regarding the open studios 🎨 📷 1. Ash Tower in his studio, 2025. Photo by Luana Rigolli @luanarigolli 2. Ash Tower's studio, 2025. Photo by the artist