Today we’d like to introduce you to Joshua Ashley.
Hi Joshua, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Here, they call me Joshua Ashley.
I was born into a family rich in spiritual wealth. Before I was born, my mother dreamed of me running down a hallway. She called my name, Joshua. The following morning, she heard a sermon about Joshua and the battle of Jericho and knew what she would name her child. My name carries the meaning of God is deliverance and leader, and throughout my life I have continued to discover what those words mean through experience.
I found art before I understood why I needed it. As a child, I was drawn to color, drawing, music, Legos, and anything I could use to make something new. Creating became a language before I had the words to explain myself.
Growing up in the South, I learned early that being yourself can come with questions. I questioned my family, my faith, my sexuality, my place in the world, and the things I had been taught to believe. I spent years trying to understand why I felt different and, at times, wishing parts of myself could be changed. Eventually, I realized I was never broken.
I was becoming.
My journey as a Black queer man, an artist, and a person of faith has taught me that much of what we seek outside of ourselves begins within. The questions that once frightened me became invitations to look deeper. Art became one of the ways I could process what I discovered.
Today, I create from that place.
My work explores identity, spirituality, ancestry, mental wellness, human connection, and restoration. I paint what I feel. I document what I witness. I write what I am still learning. I am interested in the space between the physical and spiritual, the individual and the collective, the past and the future.
This is where Oasis was born.
Oasis is more than a name. It is an ongoing practice of creating spaces where people can return to themselves. Through painting, photography, film, conversation, food, sound, and gathering, I explore what becomes possible when we slow down enough to truly see ourselves and one another.
I believe art can be a meeting place. A place where questions are welcomed, stories are shared, and people are reminded of the light they carry.
My work is not about having every answer. It is about creating enough space for us to ask better questions.
I am still discovering what Joshua means.
Still becoming.
Still creating.
Still finding my way home.
Welcome to the Oasis.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Roadblock after roadblock met me as I traveled. Most of them manifested through relationships, revealing trauma I didn’t even know I was carrying. After facing the shadows that lingered through generations, I entered a deep period of isolation. I stepped away from the noise, the light, and the wrongs I was determined to make right.
I found myself screaming at the walls, breaking glasses, running around looking for a way out. Then I had to pause and remind myself, I asked for this. To be set free.
When I first decided to take my exodus from organized religion, the thoughts flooded in. Anxiety was waiting for me at home. I had to face the reality that I had been living in an environment that constantly took from me without giving me space to be restored. Isn’t that what a church is supposed to be for? To be healed, renewed, transformed?
Growing up in the church was all I knew. Leaving felt like I was leaving behind a part of myself that still wanted to be seen and heard. But being away opened a door for me to truly step within and discover what had been waiting there all along.
Love.
Love found me again at the right time, and suddenly I was learning how to simply be.
I began practicing meditation, affirmations, yoga, Tantra, and other forms of movement. Breathwork taught me to slow down and listen to what was happening within me. I began to understand how much energy I was carrying and how I could transform what I experienced into something creative.
The more I moved my body to music, painted through tears, wrote in my journal until the sun went down, or simply closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths in public, the more I began to restore what had been taken from me.
My time.
Recharged and ready, I now stand before you as a new man, ready for my mission: to create, one piece at a time, and bring love back home.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I consider myself a believer in being a bridge to the past and future and I create work that embodies the unseen. I explore the relationship between the physical and spiritual realms through painting, mixed media, digital art, music and storytelling, letting the hidden expression come out in each piece.
In my practice, nature is both teacher and mirror, revealing patterns that connect storytelling, memory and human experience. Color has intent, meaning, feeling, leading each work to its fullest expression. My art, born of revelation and self-discovery, invites reflection, healing and a deeper connection to truths too easily overlooked. The deeper I go into the core of my soul the more layers of life I find to share through creation.
How do you think about luck?
One thing about me, I am divinely protected. I’ve witnessed favor play out in my life in ways that still amaze me, from receiving something I needed for free to opportunities seemingly landing right in my lap. I’ve always had a special connection to the other side, and I’ve learned to trust what I cannot always explain. My faith in the unknown, combined with my connection to my ancestors, has created a safe space for me to blossom, listen, and step into my artistry with confidence.
I don’t always know what’s waiting around the corner, but I’ve learned to trust that I am being guided. That trust has become a part of my creative practice.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.joshuaashley.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boiielectric/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JoshuaAshley
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@boiielectric?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc
