Ashley Nieuwenhuizen was born in Johannesburg in 1984 and lives and works in Dundee and Fife. Graduating with a First Class Degree, with Distinction in September 2010 from the Master of Fine Art Programme at Duncan of Jordanstone, Ashley Nieuwenhuizen continues to investigate the fantastical and scientific realms that serve to amalgamate features and aspects of animal and man. She has participated in several group exhibitions internationally and throughout the United Kingdom, including Running Time, The Dean Gallery, Klook Klook, Travelling Gallery, Scotland, New Contemporaries, The Royal Scottish Academy, and a solo show, In the Absence of Wolves, Sierra Metro.

Nieuwenhuizen has recently been awarded the RSA Residencies for Scotland 2011, by the Royal Scottish Academy, in association with Hospitalfield Trust House, as well as the Visual Artist Grant Award 2011, from Fife Council. She has also been presented with the Sir William Gillies Bequest Award and John Kinross Scholarship, both from the Royal Scottish Academy, as well as the William Sangster Philips Fund and Special Mention for the Masters Programme, both awarded by Duncan of Jordanstone.