Stainless Steel or Gold Plated Sadie E. Francis, Philadelphia, PAAll of my work, no matter what media I am working in, begins with an immersion, a touch, in the natural world, no matter how small or short. Hand foraged botanicals, insects, or animal remains set in resin, highlighting the complexity, fragility, changeability, and subtle intensity of this world, a world that my species, over the past few hundred years, have extracted ourselves from; declared ourselves separate and apart. While I am experimenting with rendering the ephemeral permanent, I witness the tumult of a rapidly changing world; processes that my species recklessly set in motion. Every piece is unique and starts with observing little things, little processes, in large landscapes. I live next to one of the largest urban parks in the country, and long walks in these urban wilds is what both sustains and challenges me. My work is both an exploration and a meditation of wild nature, and human conceptualization of what wild nature is; I immortalize seeds of invasive plants, putting them in a different context: I pull apart flowers and reconstruct their parts in a new anatomy. I want to infuse each piece with my own creative style while bringing attention to the forms of seeds, dried husks, the fractal beauty of the wing of a cicada - forms which all of us ignore, overlook, or take for granted on a daily basis, like a song playing in the background that we have ceased to hear.
