Aspen is Assistant Professor of Art at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and teaches Photography in the Department of Art and Art History.  She was born and raised in Chipita Park, Colorado.  In 2001 she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.  In 2004  she received her Masters of Fine Arts in Photo Based Media at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC.  From 2004-2007 she taught a wide range of art courses at East Carolina University and Chowan University in Murfreesboro, North Carolina.