Dirty Kitchen

About the Work

I created this work to reflect on my anxiety and vulnerability after starting anxiety medication. After a bad critique with some tough words from my professors, this painting put a bad taste in my mouth. I always thought it was terrible. It is a part of a triptych that I entered into my first group show. Only two of the three were accepted, leaving behind this piece. As time has gone on, it has become one of my favorite pieces despite its rejection.

About the Artist

Ash Gaude is a portrait artist currently located in New Orleans, Louisiana. After years of moving around the United States and living in the Caribbean, her artwork has found a focus on a person’s individuality. Gaude paints to reflect her subject’s unique experiences and personal emotions, while also demonstrating how that subject reflects herself. Many of her subjects are her close friends who share similar experiences of being a struggling young New Orleanian while also embracing the city. Gaude often displays this in acrylic or oil, and more often than not painting the full body as if the subject was life sized. Gaude received the Tolmas Scholars Grant in 2019 from the University of New Orleans and currently has a full assistantship with the University of New Orleans.