From Ashes is a photographic series of self-portraits on the themes of death, rebirth and renewal in our inner, outer and environmental landscapes. Here I work with the backdrops of the personal, societal and collective devastation many have experienced resulting from COVID situated within the environmental devastation caused by the recent forest fires in North Evia, Greece (climate crisis). I work in a vintage costume, which has been coated with a layer of ashes taken from a 2500-year-old olive tree which was lost to the Fires in Rovies in North Evia. All images have been captured in the woodlands near Drimonas in North Evia in September and November 2020. I hope to continue with this work in the coming months. This work has been in part funded by Westmeath County Council through their annual artist bursary. Within my arts practice, I create expanded narratives documenting times of transition and transformation both in our inner and outer world. I am inspired by nature's rhythm, death, rebirth, and the organic flow I find in my constantly changing world and creative process. I concern myself with themes of development and growth on individual, collective and environmental levels, presenting audiences with a platform for connection with the natural world and self-exploration, creating a space for reflection and expansion of awareness. Drawn to working within the purity of the natural environment, I document those lands in the process of change by the hand of man, nature and in more recent times climate.

‍

About
Aishling Muller, a lens-based artist from Ireland has been creating and exhibiting works since 2007. She trained with an audiovisual media degree, an MA in Art in the Digital World and many additional trainings in story telling, performance, and holistic therapies. After completing her degree in 2006 Aishling spent three months interning with the Magnum In Motion department at Magnum Photos NYC. In recent years Aishling lived in Ireland, Sweden and Iceland. Aishling is a member of FISL Iceland (Icelandic Contemporary Photography Association), and delivered a TED X on Rethinking Creativity in Reykjavik in 2017. She is currently based in Ireland. In 2021 Aishling became a role model for INSPA (Irish National School Photography Awards), and trained with the Marina Abramovic Institute in Cleaning The House, a durational performance workshop. Her eclectic artworks have been recognized, awarded, highly commended, shortlisted, and exhibited in many international photographic, arts and events.

‍