Ashlee Ann, Model Actress, Movement enthusiast on the cover of The Selfied

A model, actress and movement enthusiast from Melbourne, Australia @chameleon_creature

What was the situation in which this photo was taken?

I had the day off, and decided to put an eyeshadow colour on my eye that had never been used on my eye before, in my professional life. Plus ‘Greenery’ is the Pantone colour of the year for 2017.

Could you tell us something about what you do?

Everyday is stimulating and vastly different. My career is similar to a collection of ‘first day at a new job I’ve always dreamed of doing’ experiences, one after another… A new start time, a new role, a new location and a new team of people to both impress and congeal with. I’ve never stopped being nervous and I wouldn’t have it any other way! 😛

How did you first become interested in modelling, acting and movement?

When I was 15 years old, I was awarded two weeks work experience at Vogue Australia for winning a national writing competition. During this time I met a few photographers who mentioned that trained dancers and gymnasts often make good models and encouraged me to do my first test shoot. I haven’t looked back since.

What do you enjoy most about what you do?

The ability to explore expression, movement and unique composition. I am constantly spoilt with variety and am ever increasingly inspired by the amazing talents of the various creatives I get to work alongside daily. Everyone on set, no matter the project, are magicians of light and illusion.

What are you working on at the moment?

A collection of music videos filmed in Los Angeles for a new musical artist, ‘Slow shiver.’ Our first video launches incredibly soon and is a cinematic nod to the brilliance of Helmut Newton’s stills work.

What are the challenges in what you do, and how do you overcome them?

Beauty and all it encompasses, is an ever changing, incredibly subjective sphere. This proves as comforting as it is occasionally disheartening in my position within the fashion, art, entertainment, advertising community. The mental pressures that exist within a profession that places extreme emphasis on the physical, can on the one hand improve your mind-body connection and general aptitude at work, yet in moments make it difficult to relax with such heightened body awareness outside of work. By now, I could construct a tome of external and conflicting comments about my body and facial architecture, both positive and negative, yet this feedback doesn’t always necessarily help me model with a level of intelligence that deems me able to mould and fit every brief. Instead of focusing on any perceived career limitation, I try to focus and extend the role of being a model, to being a role model for young women by living as healthily as possible (and relish in the positivity of that intention). Great responsibility exists when choosing a profession that the public eye follows.

Could you describe your personal style?

Gothic ballerina meets 80’s double denim.

What is your present state of mind?

Determined. I have my sights set on a few acting projects this year and endeavour to stretch my skill set to suit.

What music are you listening to at the moment?

Son Lux, Bjork, The Internet, Peaches, The Black Angels, Joy Division, The Weeknd, Arctic Monkeys and Ravel (specifically Le Tombeau de Couperin).

Which artists or designers inspire you?

Herb Ritts, Ai WeiWei, Yoko Ono, Stella McCartney and Sergei Polunin.

What is the purpose of art, in your view?

To inspire the mind to widen. Art exists in a physical form, that encourages thought and demands an emotional response from the audience, an enthralling parallel and opposing process that the artist undergoes through creating themselves. A truly connective force. Art is the ultimate distraction that in turn allows us to re-prioritise how we can live, versus how we actually live life. It has the potential to both distort reality and bizarrely, in turn, immortalise truths.

How do you spend your free time?

Mostly at trampoline parks or dance classes. However, when the parks and studios close for the evening, I’m often found drinking Kombucha and watching ’88-’96 Olympic Gymnastics videos or obsessing over the collective works of E.E Cummings, Neruda, Keats, Elizabeth Barrett-Browning, Oscar Wilde, Rilke and Emily Dickinson.

Ashlee Ann, Model, Dancer, Movement enthusiast. Selfie.
Ashlee Ann, Movement enthusiast.