Ashlee Ray

Ashlee Ray, a Chickasaw citizen and Adai Caddo descendant, is an artist from Ada, Oklahoma. Originally from Dallas, Texas she moved in 2019 to follow her career in the arts where she curates and installs First American exhibits. Her work focuses on combining digital illustration and First American southeastern motifs/iconography as a way of connecting with her culture that she did not have growing up. Her style is heavily influenced by animated films with thick lines and harsher shadows resulting in whimsical depictions surrounded by cultural imagery. She has recently begun utilizing a variety of media (watercolor, posca markers, acrylic, alcohol markers, etc.) on ledger paper to translate her style into a physical depiction as a way to add texture to her work.

Achamapa (Echo)

Medium: Digital Illustration on Scanned Ledger Paper

$100

12" x 12" (with Frame)

Three Chikasha women reaching towards their communities future. Chickasaw women are the culture bearers and storytellers, carrying traditions and hope for the future of our people. I carry an echo of those before me, in hope that it will continue beyond myself. In this image we see our proud ancestors who have passed on, the women who were forcibly removed from their land and culture, and the woman we are now reconnecting to past traditions and practices.