Duncan MacKenzie and Brian Andrews sit down with artist Claire Ashley at the Door County Contemporary Art Fair for a conversation that wanders from broken-down minivans to Scottish standing stones, from inflatable sculpture to protest aesthetics, and from the economics of artistic survival to the philosophy of color.
Ashley discusses nearly two decades of building monumental inflatable sculptures that refuse to stay still—works that exist somewhere between architecture, bodies, creatures, performance, and public intervention. They explore why artists should embrace experimentation, why humor can be politically powerful, and how softness, absurdity, and vulnerability can become serious sculptural strategies.
Links
Claire Ashley
https://clairehelenashley.com/
Door County Contemporary Art Fair
https://www.doorcountycontemporary.com/
Lee Bontecou
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Bontecou
Nick Cave
https://nickcaveart.com/Main/Intro.html
Paul McCarthy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_McCarthy
José Lerma
https://kavigupta.com/artists/42-jose-lerma/
Weisman Art Museum
https://wam.umn.edu/
Cameron Art Museum
https://cameronartmuseum.org/
Saint Kate – The Arts Hotel
https://www.saintkatearts.com/
Callanish Standing Stones
https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/calanais-standing-stones/
Isle of Lewis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Lewis
- Episode 966: Claire Ashley - August 17, 2026
- Episode 965: Jaymee Harvey Willms - August 13, 2026
- Episode 964: Jenal Dolson - August 10, 2026
