Ashleigh Holmes (b. 1994 in Sydney, Australia), also known as Ash Holmes, uses dynamic brushstrokes and a refined color palette to create a new, delicate yet strong take on abstract art. Her palette mixes earthy neutrals like muted greens, browns and blues with warm and comforting pinks. Her repeated abstract marks are sometimes reminiscent of Australian landscapes, sometimes of mysterious forests. Nature is one of her biggest inspirations, and her works are often based on beautiful landscapes she has recently experienced. The large, dynamic and gestural brushstrokes that define her paintings hearken back to the Abstract Expressionism of the 1940s and 1950s. To the Abstract Expressionists like Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko, the act of mark making was of prime importance; pouring or violently brushing the paint onto the canvas, their works show the physical work of the body needed to produce a work of art. This tradition broke with the norm of previous centuries which was to try and eliminate visible brushstrokes and create a painting that is a perfect illusion of three-dimensionality – like a window through which you look out at the scene. Like the Abstract Expressionists, Ash Holmes emphasizes the physical nature of the artwork and the materials used to create it, but while her predominantly male predecessors used dark and often very saturated primary colors, her delicate color palette elevates the gestural marks to create a new, more light and airy kind of abstract art. A fourth-generation artist, her parents were always supportive of her work, allowing her to paint since the age of 3. She has a certificate in the psychology of color, allowing her to master the sensory effects of the colors in her works. She has exhibited her work in numerous galleries across Australia and in New York since 2017, and has been a finalist of the Lloyd Rees Memorial Youth Art Award, the Belle Art Start competition and the Premio Combat Prize in Italy