︎


On Being Light and Liquid



Due to illness, Mandy Franca has spent most of last year resting in bed, gazing through the glass windows in her home as clouds drift by. Contemplating her own loss of verticality amidst William Pope.L's exploration of the vertical and Zygmunt Bauman's concept of “liquid modernity”, she reflects on the contrast between her own immobile state and the fluidity of the world around her. Observing the movement of the clouds—historically a symbol of freedom—Franca ruminates on her own physical limitations while peering out of her window. Noticing similarities between the collapse and exposure of global structures and the illusion of freedom in contemporary society, she questions the broader, intertwined concepts of freedom and humanity in our era.

In On Being Light and Liquid, Franca presents a body of work containing textile, sound, video, sculpture and mark-making. Combining NASA images with photographs, as well as video and sound captured with her iPhone.













Installation view: On Being Light and Liquid, Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam.

Image credits: photographs by Sander van Wettum, 2024















Installation view: On Being Light and Liquid, Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam.






On Being Light and Liquid I
Oil pastel, oil stick, voile, satin silk, enamel paint on wood
Dimensions variable
2024

Untitled I (13052019)
Plaster, styrofoam, satin silk, enamel paint on wood 
38.5 x 149.1 x 14.6 cm
2024





 


Close Up - Untitled I (13052019) & Untitled III (13052019)








MARK I (14052024)
Oil pastel, voile, enamel paint on wood
162 x 81 x 2.8 cm
2024







Close Up - MARK I (14052024)







On Being Light and Liquid II
Oil pastel, oil stick, voile, satin silk, enamel paint on wood
Dimensions variable
2024

Untitled II (25042024)
Plaster, styrofoam, oil pastel, oil stick, voile, enamel paint on wood
279.6 x 22 x 15.3 cm
2024

Aeon
Soundscape
30:12 min
2024






Close Up - On Being Light and Liquid II









Close Up - Untitled II (25042024)















MARK II (15052024)
Oil pastel, voile, enamel paint on wood
104 x 173 x 2.8 cm
2024









Close Up - MARK II











On Being Light and Liquid III
Oil pastel, oil stick, voile, satin silk, enamel paint on wood
Dimensions variable
2024

Untitled III (13052019)
Plaster, styrofoam, satin silk, enamel paint on wood
111 x 22.2 x 14.6 cm
2024














Close Up - Untitled III (13052019)












Flow I (13052024)
Single channel video on monitor
5’47”
2024


Flow II (03022020)
Single channel video on monitor
4’59”
2024








Spiral
Satin Silk, metal
283 x 100 x 11 cm
2024