Ansley West Rivers

Ansley West Rivers

Ansley West Rivers is an artist whose photographic practice focuses on the intersection of landscape and humanity. 

Her work is featured in many public and private collections including the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, The Microsoft Corporation, The Telfair Museums, The Judge Collection, LaGrange Art Museum and The Mayo Collection.  Additionally, West Rivers's work has been shown at the Wattis Institute of Contemporary Art (San Francisco, CA), Sous Les Etoiles Gallery (New York, NY), Burrard Arts Foundation (Vancouver BC), EUQINOM Gallery (San Francisco, CA), The Brower Center (Berkley, CA), Kala Art Institute (Berkley, CA), Carmel Visual Arts (Carmel, CA), Hathaway Gallery (Atlanta, GA), United Photo Industries (DUMBO, Brooklyn, NY), The Print Center (Philadelphia, PA), The Wiregrass Museum (Dothan, AL), PhotoLondon (London, England), and Laney Contemporary (Savannah, GA). 

She received her BFA from the University of Georgia and MFA from the California College of the Arts.  She currently lives with her husband and two children in Victor, Idaho.

BACKYARD PROPHECIES Artist Statement:

“My Sister, Cubby West Spain, and I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. Like most cities, access to wild spaces is not easy, but our childhood home backed up to a pine forest with two creeks

flowing through it. We spent many afternoons exploring our backyard. We built forts, rafts that never floated, tree houses, secret gardens and endlessly chased lightening bugs in the

summer. In our eyes, the few acres behind our home became a magical unexplored oasis. A place that captured our imagination, allowing city children to live barefoot, a bit dirty and

with a since of independence, in an otherwise concrete environment.

Our backyard was transformative to the artists we have become today. As we grew up, our backyard expanded as we spent countless weekends in the North Georgia mountains, which further

nurtured our love of the landscape.

When we became adults and started families of our own, we both moved to small towns in Idaho. Seemingly, in contrast to our childhood home, but the southern pines and creek water gave root to our passion for running rivers, hiking mountains and the gift of picnicking in a forest. I believe this inevitably drew us to the landscapes of the West.

The approaches to our work may take diIerent forms, but its inspiration remains the same as the two kids excited to turn over creek rocks and climb trees in our backyard haven. We fell

in love with a small pine forest in Atlanta. That forest grew in us a passion for spaces undeveloped with the freedom to roam. Our practices are centered upon the intention to bring environmental issues into view through the beauty of a landscape unmarred by development. Our concepts explore the sometimes-radical idea that the natural world is best left to itself. The idea of wilderness

fuels our practice with the hopes of creating conversation, similar to the chatter of children splashing around in a backyard creek.”