Primary Medium

Painting

Address

253 Greenpoint Ave
Rm 6
Brooklyn, 11222

Artist Statement

I am deeply influenced by the urban landscapes that I have explored and inhabited throughout my life, and my work is grounded in those spaces. They provide an infinite source of textures, shapes, and patterns. Re-locating to Taiwan in 2014, I was particularly drawn to the cityscapes of Taipei because of my cultural roots there. The sub tropical climate there created an urban environment that I was less familiar with. While the spaces triggered memories of growing up in 'the city,' the intense intrusion of natural growth challenged those memories. Mossy concrete walls and foliage filled ruins in the city were at once familiar and new. I am drawn to that contradiction, urban spaces that feel familiar and universal, but also specific, and distinct to themselves. As I move through the world, I sketch and photograph the details of the urban spaces that I explore, so that I can bring those places back to my studio. In the studio, I am able to investigate the textures and colors of the city in rich layers of oil paint. I play with the scale of the city, sometimes filling my canvas with massive structures and architectural shapes, and other times depicting an eroded patch of wall with a few blooms of moss and marks of graffiti. Through each series I am able to create a cultural catalogue of specific experience and place. Cataloging the culture of a place through its urban landscape is my method to understand the cultures I straddle.

Links

Website: http://www.francinehd.com
Instagram: @francinehd