Ashley Metro is a young ambitious artist from Austin, Texas, whose stream of consciousness work manifests as seemingly endless line work, organic abstract shapes, and often hidden fragments of text. Coining the term “abstract ideology,” a phrase that often gets tucked into her paintings, Metro explains her personal take on a common paradox: we can create anything we can imagine, yet we are limited to what we can perceive. The eyes, she explains, are there to “perceive” the viewer, the way everyone is perceived regardless of whether they choose to be. Metro’s vibrant paintings take root in artist’s of the 1960s pop art movement, featuring bright colors, brilliant use of rhythm, and complex patterns. At only twenty-one years, Metro has exploded onto the Austin art scene and has no plans of stopping anytime soon. With her paintings featured in numerous galleries across Texas and the completion of large-scale installations in both Austin and Los Angeles, the artist plans to cover the world with her designs and spread a little Metro wherever she goes.
