Artist Profile — Ashley Song. By Rebecca Low

Originally from Beijing, China, Ashley Song is a third-year student in the School of Contemporary Arts at SFU. Ashley has been involved in creating art her whole life, initially focusing on dancing and visual art. She moved to Vancouver in 2011 and ended up graduating high school with an IB diploma in visual art. Despite the diploma and the IB designation, Ashley’s confidence in her art was low. She ended up dramatically missing out on an opportunity to show her portfolio due to self-doubt delaying her arrival at the event. Thinking back she said, “I was running in the rain with my portfolio crying on Vancouver downtown streets… I just felt bad because I didn’t do my all.”

Hoping to gain a deeper understanding of the context and history of art, Ashley decided to take a more theory-based approach to her post-secondary studies, and is now in her third year of the Cinema Studies program with an archeology minor. She still dances as a member of a k-pop and hip-hop dance troupe that both performs live and produces Youtube videos. Ashley has found that the collaborative nature of dancing and video production leads to a healthier balance for her, as the creative work is shared with her colleagues and is less likely to be all-consuming.

Northern Lights photo by Ashley Song

An animal lover, Ashley is particularly a fan of jungle cats and gorillas. She believes that they know and understand more than they are typically given credit for. She loves seeing that they all have their own individual personalities.

To see some of Ashley’s dance work check out Panwiberry on youtube here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6AKc8gXoFZHUyyeDIFTGHA