Ben Ashton

Born in 1983 – to an artist father and a mother who led the creative department of a secondary school – Ben Ashton didn’t set out intending to become an artist himself. He dabbled in music and acting, but saw greater potential for longevity in art, along with infinite possibilities to improve and expand. He went on to study Fine Art at Newcastle University before completing his MA at the Slade School of Fine Art in London, in 2008.  

His work has been celebrated in such high-profile projects as the cover art for Rag’n’Bone Man’s record-breaking debut album, Human, as well as AlunaGeorge’s debut Body Music. Both were joint projects with his wife and creative partner, the photographer Fiona Garden. Other notable collaborators include fellow artist and designer Rachel Freires, and the Norwegian artist Damselfrau.

Ashton has come to view his work as a personal history. “Because I've painted myself and the people around me for so long… if you were to do a retrospective after I died then you'd be able to see my entire life in painting,” he says. “You'd see someone grow old.” Oil paint is incredibly resilient, he adds. “I think that's what I really like about it. Portraiture has a strange lineage; it's been a part of humanity's means of expression for centuries.” This is the legacy – a wonderfully odd and unique one – that he will leave behind.