"For me, art is a gesture of essense, from one moment to another, being to being, in an ever unfolding communion, as we all come together to discover, to unveil, our true dwelling space: A movement towards wholeness, fulfillment."



Michael Ash was awarded a prestigious nationwide Thomas J. Watson Fellowship in 1994 for an extensive year and a half independent photographic project in India and had been based in Asia for almost a decade hence before grounding himself in the Hawaiian islands back in late 2002.

His extended 13-year project "Elements of the Sacred" includes work from throughout Asia - from the heights of the Himalaya in Northern India, Nepal, Tibet and the Tibetan regions of Ladakh, Lahaul, and Sikkim; to throughout large portions of India and Southeast Asia, including considerable work in Thailand, Indonesia, and Taiwan; and several years in Japan - as well as further forays into Israel and the Middle East, Southern Africa, and Australia.

A dharma inspired photographer with an eye on the sacred, Ash's body of work features sacred sites and alchemical moments from locales that truly scan the globe.  While his work has held a special focus on Asia, his recent more mythic work that has emerged ranges from the mountains of Andalusia, Mayan sites in the Yucatan, and power places throughout the Hawaiian isles to pilgrimage routes to and around holy Mount Kailash in Tibet.

Michael is further presently founding a non-profit organization, the Dharma Eye Foundation, which shall support both visual buddhist projects and artists, sponsoring an annual national tour of their works, with proceeds to go to a variety of worthy Tibetan charities, ie nunneries, exiles’ education, practitioners’ retreats, etc.  This is the primary offspring of extended visions during the above pilgrimage to Kailash in the company of the wonderful Tsoknyi Rinpoche.  Any with interest in this collective project may feel free to contact: visions@sacredelements.com. 

Michael continues to exhibit on the isles as his schedule allows. He has exhibited widely in Japan over the years, including three one-month solo shows between Tokyo & Okinawa. He has also had several solo shows in upstate New York and Hawaii, as well has been honored in group shows and expos, both online and material world.. He has received considerable favorable press in Japan, includinga feature in Japan's "Outdoor" magazine, June 2000 edition.

He is represented by select galleries in Tokyo and on the Big Island of Hawaii, as well as several prestigious online galleries.

His image "Spirits" is to be published at 2007 end in an upcoming prestigious book: "The World's Greatest Black & White Photography No. 1"

Michael's creative output extends to an extensive array of poetry birthed over the last years, with occasional live readings to musical accompaniment on the Big Island. Peek through his Zaadz page for several online poems.

Further, he plays and dabbles in soundscape journeys, dj-ing as it were, at various events locally. A past with film also exists, graduating with honors in Film-making from Vassar College back in 1994, having created several intensive solo film shorts
back in the day.

And more....