Ashleigh Sumner (b.1979) is a contemporary painter living and working out of East Oakland, CA. Sumner received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre from Western Carolina University before moving west to Los Angeles in 2003 and then north to Oakland, California in 2017.
Sumner’s early artistic career is firmly rooted in theatre arts with professional credits in stage, independent queer film, and network television. Her years of experience as a performer provided a natural evolution of translating elements of text into the visual medium of painting.
Recent solo exhibitions include Touch The Sky (2024) with Themes + Projects Gallery located within the Minnesota Street Project of San Francisco.
Public installations include a collaboration with 2K Foundations and NBA athlete, Damian Lillard. The project included the complete refurbishment of the basketball court and gymnasium of the historic Boys and Girls Club of Oakland. Sumner designed and installed two, 12ft x 24ft mixed media, murals applied directly to the basketball court floor. Additional collaborations with 2K Foundations include permanent installations for the Gameheads organization of Oakland; an organization dedicated to teaching video game design and coding to the underserved youth of the Bay Area.
Publications include the 2023 monograph, Hype Means Nothing. The book a collaboration with photographer and designer, Shaun Roberts.
In 2020, Sumner created a definitive body of work as a visual diary of the Covid-19 pandemic. The collection of paintings was presented as a solo exhibition with the College of Marin titled, "Mortem | Renovamen: The Covid Diaries."
Notable museum exhibitions include the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art's JUSTICE (2020) curated by Karen Jenkins-Johnson. Sumner’s painting, “American Idiot” was awarded Honorable Mention.
Curated exhibitions include "Street Preachers," an exhibition of the premier, female street artists of Los Angeles. The exhibition was mounted with the support of The Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock and was awarded grants from the Los Angeles Arts Commission and the Pasadena Art Alliance.
Additional awards include the winner of the Red Bull Curates competition for Los Angeles. As a result, her work was highlighted in a special exhibition with Scope Miami that year.
Ashleigh Sumner’s work can be found in both public and private collections throughout Europe and the United States.
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I Like Your Work is dedicated to supporting artists, creating community and providing opportunities and resources. Our podcast interviews creative people from painters and artists to collectors and curators. People who are involved in a creative lifestyle and also in building community within the arts. I Like Your Work is hosted by artist and curator Erika b Hess.
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