Artist: Barbara Franc

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I was delighted to have been offered the opportunity by Alison and Rob to have a solo show at the Union Gallery. That was almost a year ago and I have been working towards it since then. Over the course of that time I have explored so many different themes and used a wide variety of materials that we thought the best title to describe the show would be ‘Diversity’ as that forgivingly crosses all the thought threads of my mind.
The pieces may seem diverse from Kimonos in all different sizes to animal forms and a personal homage to Matisse, but they are all linked together in what I hope is a celebration of life and the very simple and slightly selfish pleasure of bringing a smile to people’s faces.
A lot of the materials I have used are salvaged from discarded objects, I could say that I enjoy feeling very worthy and doing my bit for the environment by saving things from landfill, but almost as importantly I do need to use materials that ‘resist me’.
By that I mean materials that have a set form, colour or texture and have had a previous purpose, they force me to adapt to their qualities and become part of the creative process.  A prime example of this would be the piece ‘Time Flies’, during it’s construction my entire workbench is littered with bits and pieces I have collected, I offer various ones up to see if they will fit within the sculpture of the horse. It is not uncommon for me to spend a whole day just fiddling about to see how the bits of watches, hinges, metal bits might want to fit together, attach them and then change my mind and dismantle the whole lot.
I unashamedly enjoy working with animal forms, their never-ending shape and form are a constant source of inspiration to me and I hope to capture a feeling of their presence and movement.  In the show I have made parrots and Macaws remembering a zoo trip in Tenerife to Crows and Magpies inspired by our very own Corvid lodger who was with my family in London for all too brief a time. So even I was surprised to have been taken so much by the urge to make Kimonos for the show!
This costume theme started with a Kimono brought to me as a present from Japan. I then went to the V&A to look at their wonderful collection of these garments, I fell in love with their sculptural form when on display with the arms stretched out straight to the side. I couldn’t resist the urge to see if I could make some using coloured decorative tin stitched together with copper wire following the dressmaker patterns. I explored making them lifesize to hang on the wall or as small delicate pieces to be put behind glass, I think both forms work equally well.

April 2011
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As a Sculptor I continually enjoy playing with different media and exploring what they can do for me. I’ll often get the gem of an idea for a new piece by just picking up a piece of discarded metal, for example, a jam jar lid might turn into a flower head or part of a cat! I might have scraps of lead sheet, which I’ll start to ‘stitch’ together and they start to transform into the idea of making a corset out of this soft, malleable metal.

I enjoy working with different gauges of wire and wire netting as they respond very directly and immediately to my ideas and it becomes like drawing in three dimensions. I’ll often work on the form first without a rigid armature supporting the wire, this gives me a greater freedom to change the posture of the sculpture and keep it feeling alive. When I’ve decided on how I want it to stand, I’ll then thread in a stiffer wire to become the armature. I can emphasise certain lines with the use of resin and different gauges of wire, some pieces I leave in their metallic finish and others I colour using enamel or clear plastic glass paints.

Many of the pieces are suitable for outdoors when they are made with galvanised wire or metals such as brass, aluminium and lead. Each sculpture I make is unique (a one-off).

CV

EXHIBITIONS

2011
April, Solo Exhibition, Union Gallery, Edinburgh

2010
Work regularly showing at Union Gallery, Edinburgh

2009
“Landmarks”. Group Exhibition, Union Gallery, Edinburgh

2006
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital

2005
Garden Gallery, Stockbridge, Hants
20firstCentury Art, Surrey
Morgan Lovell ,Noel St. W1
Bianco Nero, Yorks

2004
Two Man Show - Chapel Gallery, Beds
Parkfields Gallery, Herefordshire
Teddington Artists - Hampton Court House

2003
Art Outside - The Savill Garden, Windsor Great Park
C2 Gallery, Bucks
Nine Elms Group - Piers Feetham Gallery, London

2002
Chenies Manor, Bucks
Society of Wildlife Artists, Mall Galleries, London
RHS Wisley, Surrey
Long Curve Gallery, Chipping Camden, Gloucs

2001
David Linley’s, Pimlico, London
Garden of Art, Cambs
Royal College of Pathology, Carlton Terrace, London

2000
The Garden Gallery, Hants
Stanstead House Garden Show, Hants
Garden Architecture, Fullham

1999
Barn Galleries, Henley on Thames
Henley Festival
Art Movement, The Affordable Art Fair, Battersea

1998
Well Being Art Sale - Phillips International Auctioneers
Enchanted Priory, Marcham, Oxon

1997
Quartet of Sculptors, Worthing Museum and Art Gallery
“The Sea”, L’Artichaut, Chichester
Marks and Spencers, Head office, Baker St, London

1996
Solo Show - Molesey Gallery, Hampton
St Thomas’ Hospital, Westminster
The Long Room at the Oval

1995
Art for Hospitals, Chichester
Fitch’s Ark, London
Nine Elms Group of Artists, Whiteleys, London

1994
Solo Show - Molesey Gallery, Hampton
“Return to Beauty”, Roy Milles Gallery, London
The Art Show, Alexandra Palace, London

1993
Usiskin Contemporary Art, Hampstead

1991
Jonathan Poole Gallery, Oxon
Royal Society of British Artists , Mall Galleries
Chelsea Art Society, Winner of the sculpture award

1974 - 1978 Studied life drawing and painting at Morley College of Art under Maggie Hambling and John Bellany.
Member of the Nine Elms Group of Artists

WORKS FEATURED IN:
Country Living Magazine, Homes and Gardens, The English Garden, Décor Magazine, Country Homes and Interiors, Painting World and the book Garden Crafts by Geraldine Rudge
One of my Dragonfly sculptures featured in a BBC garden design programme in Summer 2005 where it was the centrepiece in the Dragonfly Garden
In 2001, I was asked by David Linley Furniture and Design to make several pieces for their window display to help launch a new range of garden furniture.