Artist Profile: Tanda Francis

Learn more about artist Tanda Francis’ work Take Me With You for The Socrates Annual exhibition through our social media activation.

FACEBOOK LIVE: December 7, 2017

Sara Morgan – the Park’s Development & Communications Assistant – spoke with Tanda about the impetus and process of her piece in this Facebook live video:

 

INSTAGRAM TAKEOVER: February 27, 2018

TAKE ME WITH YOU: The lack of access to clean water is a problem endangering lives all over the world. Lately, the endangerment of our own waters has been called to international attention. ‘Take Me With You’ is a site specific piece I created to speak to this reality. A concrete goddess of the river as she emerges from water. Set against the backdrop of New York City and the East River, this piece shows a moment of reaching to basic need. . The images in these posts are a glance though my process. From creating the model in my studio in Brooklyn, to the final piece with its visitors (including an ear for some reason @skowheganart). You even get to meet my friend the dove who started following me one night and again the next day. Actually helping me to make really critical decisions on how I should complete the piece. Like- . “I don’t have ears either. Am I not fabulous?” It’s crazy to argue with a dove, so i didn’t. . . . #takemewithyousculpture #tandafrancis #oshun #contemporarysculpture #femaleartist #africaninspired #socratessculpturepark #processporn #studiolife #newyork #lic #nycparks #monumentalsculpture #love #artintheparks

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BUILDING ON SITE: Socrates Artist Fellows are able to convert a section of the Park into an open-air studio. So my normally hidden creative process was made really visible throughout the good, bad, and crazy ugly. This was definitely a unique situation, especially for a piece at such a large scale with so many steps before the finish line. . With every step I had to respond to the elements – heat waves vs. clay, stormy days vs. plaster… With the situation thoroughly embraced, I was able to build, patch, live and learn to build some more. . . . #takemewithyousculpture #tandafrancis #oshun #contemporarysculpture #femaleartist #africaninspired #socratessculpturepark #processporn #studiolife #newyork #lic #nycparks #monumentalsculpture #love #artintheparks

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FINAL STAGES: Thanks to everyone who lent a hand in planting this mountain. @diego_anaya for his selfless dedication to helping me see this project completed, Mateo and the guys from #markdisuvero’s Spacetime studio for their heroic install, and @socrateshatfield + @cjzirbes who helped me to down that fierce mountain of clay – video evidence of which can be seen in the previous post! . I will be installing another piece in Fort Greene Park this summer through @#UNIQLOParkExpressions @nycparks @UNIQLO . See link in my bio @tandafrancis and follow for updates. . . . #takemewithyousculpture #tandafrancis #oshun #contemporarysculpture #femaleartist #africaninspired #socratessculpturepark #processporn #studiolife #newyork #lic #nycparks #monumentalsculpture #love #artintheparks

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