Francesca Lohmann
A fabric sack filled with wet plaster conforms to a situation, making relationships of weight and pressure visually explicit. As it sets, it becomes rigid, details of stitching and stretching remain after the fabric is removed.
Cast against my studio wall, this work has a flat side like a face pressed up against a glass or the space made by a millipede under a rock just lifted. An exposure. Situated in the center of the room between entry way and exit, it forms a long low barrier.
Francesca Lohmann was born 1986 in San Francisco and currently makes her home in Seattle. She holds a BFA in Printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design, graduated with an MFA from Cornell University in 2014, and is a current participant in Prequel PDX. Her practice involves collaboration between substance, gravity, time, and circumstance. Lohmann’s work has been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions in the Northwest and beyond, including at Veronica, the Jacob Lawrence Gallery, the Hedreen Gallery, Two Shelves, and Vignettes.
Francesca Lohmann x Prairie Underground, 2016
ARTIST SERIES
Prairie Underground is a company that has been formed and guided by a sustained engagement with art. The community that inspired our company name was a group of activists, artists and musicians. Creators and social innovators remain our most potent muses and collaborators in understanding our human experience.
In 2014 through a series of email and text messages we initiated a project that funds the creation of new work for emerging artists. The program provides a stipend for artists to create a series of work in their chosen medium to be installed in our workshop. Any material or inspiration from our environment may be used as inspiration. Prairie Underground’s products, materials and space are at the artist’s disposal. The work should not be approached or produced as marketing for our company. The grant is intended to support each artist’s individual artistic inquiry. The series they create remains the possession of the creator while we are allowed unlimited rights to share and promote the work.
Art is being commissioned to replace traditional marketing images. With this approach we are advertising Prairie Underground’s commitment to new artistic production and defining this practice as an integral part of our brand identity.
Supporting art remains an essential act to promote social justice through a focus on the individual. The importance of art in society will take a prominent place alongside our environmental concerns. We believe inviting artists into our design practice and investing in the creation of new work will produce more thoughtful design and ultimately a better world.
