"My work comes from the subconscious: it tells me what to do"
Tanya Ashken was born in England in 1939 and studied silver smithing at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London, becoming the youngest person to acquire a silver smithing hallmark at just thirteen.
She later studied sculpture at the Atelier de Del Debbio, Impasse Rosin in Paris and at the Camberwell Art School before moving to New Zealand in 1963 with her husband John drawbridge.
Tanya Ashken has exhibited widely throughout New Zealand and examples of her work feature in churches and public collections nationwide. Her work is on permanent display at Wellington Waterfront, Victoria University, Circa Theatre and the Wellington College of Education. Some of her sculptures took up to 30 years to complete, while others are less than a year old. They began as carvings in marble or wood which have been cast in metal by foundries in Auckland and Wellington.
Tanya lives and works in Island Bay, Wellington.