Ashley MacDonald is an Indigenous Sculptural Furniture Artist/Designer. Her form-forward work focuses on shape, materiality, proportion and adaptability without sacrificing functionality. Each piece celebrates daily rituals we share in work and play aiming to create an emotional bond with its keeper through storytelling and the use of natural material used in unusual ways. Ashley grew up in a small town in southern Ontario, after travelling extensively throughout Canada and the US. Through earning her Journeyman ticket in framing in Alberta, Ashley began to realize her love of furniture, which quickly became an obsession returning to south southern Ontario to pursue an Honour’s degree Furniture Craft and Design (Sheridan) and Undergrad in Creative Problem Solving (Univ. of Buffalo). Ashley has been a mentor with Sketch Toronto introducing woodworking to marginalized teens and partnering with a small team and The Peel Region Aboriginal Network (PAN) to design and make 30 bronze castings coat hooks. Ashley’s work celebrates her mixed urban and rural Indigenous roots, passion for adventure and willingness to explore ideas about comfort physically, mentally and emotionally. Ashley is currently preparing to launch WABUZ a modern indigenous street art inspired furniture house. More of Ashley's work can be found here.
Ashley MacDonald
