Artist Research Assignment #1

Sandy Frank

I got all this information from: Sandy Franks' website!

Sandy Frank holds a BA from ‘The Academy of Art in Illustration’ & a BFA from ‘the University of San Francisco’. She started out as an illustrator, then she turned over to sculpture after her daughter was born. She has taken workshops from some master sculptors, including Manuel Neri and Peter Rubino. She has taught art to all ages over the course of 30 years (at home and abroad). She currently teaches at ‘the Academy of Art’, runs drawing + sculpture workshops, and takes private students in her studio. She has shown her work both nationally and internationally.

Sandy Frank’s clay sculptures capture not just the external and traits of what she is showing, but they also capture the internal/spiritual aspects of her subject. They breathe for us. She uses the age-old process of shaping clay, so that she can connect a modern consciousness to an ancient one. She fell in love with clay 30 years ago while living in Grenada (a Caribbean island). She worked with local artists. She learned from them. She went with them to dig up the clay, process it, and created/developed art items to be sold. She has spent 10 years perfecting her technique in clay. She spends a lot of time with each piece to make each sculpture breathe and feel alive. She sculpts using live models and she builds hollow, with limited armature (if any). Perfecting her technique constantly, she works with a variety of clay bodies to get her desired effect. For example, the white finish on “Child Support” shows the idea of purity, while the dark grey of “Holding On”, shows the feeling of a life lived that is worth hanging on to. Clay is flexible in creating from life and imagination and she is amazing at combining both in a believable way. She wants to create beauty in her work, but with something intriguing so that people will look at it and see something, then wonder. Then look at it again.

I chose this artist because when I was looking through the ceramics website! I thought that her artwork just looked very cool and unique. And I really liked it, so I chose her.

Link to my slideshow: Slideshow!