‘An Area of Land 
Dominated by Trees’





In ‘An Area of Land Dominated by Trees’, Franca draws inspiration from the opening sentence of Wikipedia’s description of a ‘Forest.’ Through this exploration, she examines diverse realities and forms of intelligence that extend beyond humanity, encompassing contemporary technology and the natural world in a more-than-human context.

Trees are social beings capable of complex communication, challenging the notion that intelligence is limited to humans. This prompts a reevaluation of our relationship with nature and contemporary technologies, broadening humanity’s understanding of intelligence. Western society’s emphasis on individualism overlooks the importance of community, collaboration, and recognizing our interdependence. Emphasizing collaboration, fostering community, and understanding our interconnectedness is crucial for our survival.

Within ‘An Area of Land Dominated by Trees’, Franca combines figuration with abstraction, combining images captured with her iPhone alongside collage, painting and drawing. Creating a balance between encountering different places and temporalities, visualizing the emotions she associates with them.












Installation view: ‘An Area of Land Dominated by Trees’, Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam.


Image credits: photo by Sander van Wettum, 2023










An Area of Semi-natural Space
Inkjet, oil pastel, oil stick, china marker, graphite on canvas
170 x 460 cm
2023

Image credits: photo by Sander van Wettum, 2023








Close Up - An Area of Semi-natural Space










‘Fluttering Leaves Make the Wind Blow’ 1 & 2
Oil pastel on giclée
112 x 148 cm
2023

Image credits: photo by Sander van Wettum, 2023









Close Up - ‘Fluttering Leaves Make the Wind Blow’ 1








Close Up - ‘Fluttering Leaves Make the Wind Blow’ 2










‘A Passage of Sound and Air’ (1-10)
Collage, oil pastel, graphite, china marker on paper
21 x 14.5 cm
2023








Close Up - ‘A Passage of Sound and Air’ (1 & 5)












‘My Grandmother’s House As a Place of Shelter’
Inkjet, oil pastel, oil stick, graphite, china marker on canvas
130 x 300 cm
2023

Image credits: photo by Sander van Wettum, 2023









Close Up - ‘My Grandmother’s House As a Place of Shelter’









‘A Small Body of Still Water’
Oil pastel on giclee
112 x 148 cm
2023

Image credits: photo by Sander van Wettum, 2023









Close Up - ‘A Small Body of Still Water’









‘A Passage of Sound and Air’ (11-18)
Collage, oil pastel, graphite, china marker on paper
21 x 14.5 cm
2023








Close Up - ‘A Passage of Sound and Air’ (11 & 12)











Installation view: ‘Mixed Feelings’, Upstream Gallery, Amsterdam

Image courtesy of Upstream Gallery, Amsterdam

Image credits: photo by Gert Jan van Rooij, 2023





In a State of Being





In a State of Being is an ongoing body of work. This group of sculptural wall pieces furthers Franca’s investigation into the nature of existence by which society and the human condition are mediated through the need and the inevitable consequence for living things to leave a mark in the world.





In a State of Being III
Satin silk, voile, oil pastels, oil stick, C-type
Size variable
2021







Close Up - In a State of Being III









In a State of Being II
Satin silk, voile, oil pastels, C-type
Size variable
2021





Close Up - In a State of Being II










In a State of Being I
Satin silk, voile, PVC
Size variable
2021









Close Up In a State of Being I














Installation view: Sequences 05, The Who Gallery, London

Image courtesy of The Who Gallery, London, 2021



CAJU / KASHU / CAYÚ





CAJU / KASHU / CAYÚ is an installation specifically made for the Harlesden location of the gallery space Harlesden High Street. In this body of work Franca uses images of fruits in the form of symbols that are common on parts of the continent of South America and the Caribbean. The title CAJU / KASHU / CAYÚ refers to the many ways the same fruits within different South American and Caribbean cultures are known by different names. Using the Anacardium Occidentale also known as the cashew tree as a symbol of collective memory and underlying cultural connections.


Exploring High Street where the gallery is located remotely from the Netherlands through the aid of Google search, Google Maps and Google Images in combination with her own archival photographs, Franca created a body of work consisting of works on paper, sculptures, images and audio. Using multiple images of grocery shops on High Street via Google Maps and zooming in on the display of fruits outside of these shops, reminding her of fruits used as symbols in historical still life paintings. She further delves into the symbolism used within still life paintings by displaying different uses of textile in combination with photographs of fruits, where her sculptures then function as sculptural forms of iconography taking inspiration from the Brazilian 19th century still life painter Agostinho José da Mota. Seeing places such as grocery shops in multicultural neighbourhoods and marketplaces as places of exchange within different cultures, Franca created an audio piece consisting of recordings of different markets in the multicultural city of Rotterdam and the floating market of Curaçao in the Caribbeans. Curaçaoan natives recognize these fruits in Agostinho José da Mota’s paintings by their names in Papiamentu. A language spoken on the island of Curaçao, where Franca’s family is also from. Showing the mutual bonds in terms of (food) culture between South America and the Caribbean and the importance of cultural and generational exchange.

Taking the opportunity to create a place where people inhabiting these places of cultural richness on a western continent could come into a gallery space and be able to ‘read’ the works as a collective language. Creating a space for a wide audience and displaying connections between different South American and Caribbean cultures living in Harlesden, as a means of showing common ground. With this work, Franca furthers her interest in the ever fluid state of languages, traditions and (digital representations of) objects in a state of flux.







Carambola
Satin Silk, Voile, Oil Pastel, C-type, Polymer
155 x 193 cm
2022









Close Up - Carambola








Fruteria
C-type
Size variable
2022







Close Up - Fruteria








Awakati/Skopapel
Satin Silk, Voile, Oil Pastel, C-type, Polymer 
167 x 73 cm
2022







Close Up - Awakati/Skopapel








Kashu
C-type, Oil Pastel
20 x 15.5 cm
2022














Palu di Kashu
Voile, Oil Pastel, C-type, Polymer
54 x 48 cm
2022






 
Close Up - Palu di Kashu





Image credits: photo by Luchandro Franca, 2022
















Installation view: CAJU / KASHU / CAYÚ, Harlesden High Street, London

Image courtesy of Harlesden High Street, London, 2022



‘It's Six Minutes to Five Somewhere’





Through objects we can extend our thoughts, knowledge and body.

Current technology like the smartphone creates an opportunity for us to extend ourselves across the globe in space and time. I can be present in different places at different times simultaneously, being disembodied. In this way, we, but also our traditions, language and digital representations of objects, are in a constant flux traveling to different places. Through contemporary technology like video calling and text messaging, traditions, language, and objects can exist in multiple places at the same time.

I can be present in Amsterdam and Curaçao at the same time by video calling my father at 18:00 in Amsterdam, while where he lives it is 12:00 in the afternoon. I find comfort in connecting with family and seeing ‘my other home’ on a different continent. Sky, water, and trees present on different continents connecting us across the globe. The building blocks of life are viewable either through the help of the internet or out of my own window.

With the idea of care and comfort being a basic component of being, my goal is to set the individual experience in a larger communal context and demonstrate the connection between common objects, experiences, place and time.

‘It’s Six Minutes to Five Somewhere’ consists in various forms. The first is a video correspondence between myself and my father Clenson Franca living in the Caribbean. The videos were both taken with a smartphone on a Thursday afternoon; one in the Netherlands and the other in Curaçao, combined with a reading of my own text. The second is a series of paintings in oil pastel on paper. The photographs were taken during a flight to Curaçao, on the island itself and in my current residence in the Netherlands. Finally, I present a Google Docs correspondence with writer/curator, Delany Boutkan, on social artefacts, digital intimacy and collectivity, ‘disembodied’ forms of togetherness online, and the notion of touching someone without touching in the times of the Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath.











Part 1 - A Video Correspondence With My Father







Headphones recommended.


A video correspondence between myself and my father Clenson Franca living in the Caribbean. The videos were both taken with a smartphone on a Thursday afternoon; one in the Netherlands and the other in Curaçao.



Video
2’38”
2020








Part 2


C-Type
30 x 40 cm
2020








(1)
Oil pastel on giclée
148 x 112.5 cm

2020








Close Up - ‘It's Six Minutes to Five Somewhere’ - Part 2 (1)











(2)
Oil pastel on giclée
148 x 112.5 cm

2020








Close Up - ‘It's Six Minutes to Five Somewhere’ - Part 2 (2)










(3)
Oil pastel on giclée
148 x 112.5 cm

2020





Close Up - ‘It's Six Minutes to Five Somewhere’ - Part 2 (3)












Installation view: Degree show class of 2020, Royal College of Art, London

Image credits: photo by KitMapper, 2022











Installation view:  RCA Graduation Show at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London 

Image credits: photo by Teresa Arêde, 2020












Installation view: London Grads Now at Saatchi Gallery, London
 
Image credits: photo by Constanza Valderrama, 2020










Part 3 - A Google Docs correspondence with Delany Boutkan






As part of my graduation project for the MA Print at the Royal College of Art in London (UK), I started a Google docs correspondence between myself and Design Curator/Writer Delany Boutkan. With a common interest in circulating digital cultures myself and Delany decided to start a conversation on social artefacts, digital intimacy and collectivity, 'disembodied' forms of togetherness online and touching someone without touching in times of the Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath.

Text/Video
Word count 4062 / 5’46”
2020

In Collaboration with:

Delany Boutkan: Design Curator and Writer