 In 1966 her work was included in "Recent New Zealand Sculpture" at the Auckland City Art Gallery.In 1967 Ashken was the second artist to be awarded the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship, an opportunity for her to spend a year in Dunedin developing ideas for large sculptures.After this Ashken attracted a number of major commissions, including "Seabird V" (1974) for the New Zealand High Commission in Canberra and her best-known work, the water sculpture "Albatross" (1986) in Frank Kitts Park, Wellington.