Originally from the UK, Ashley Cullen (b. 1998) is an artist based in Canberra ACT. Her portraits chart an intensely charged vision of the human experience, capturing people at their most raw and vulnerable moments. Growing up in a large family, Cullen has always been fascinated with describing those close to her through sketching and painting. After finishing college (2016) and winning the John Cope Award for Academic Excellence, Cullen would go on to pursue her love of painting at the Australian National University, specialising in visual art and literature. In her final year of university, she emerged as a finalist for both the Persistence Art Competition and the Global Undergraduate Awards, graduating with the ANU School of Art & Design EASS Belconnen Arts Centre Exhibition Award and the Eckersley’s Art & Craft Materials Award (2020).