As
an Eco-artivist, ‘Rubbish artist’ and mosaicist, Francesca pioneers sustainable
art by creating her artworks entirely out of waste (her ‘Trashure’).
Torn
between optimism and surrender, Francesca is haunted by the idea of mankind’s
imminent self-destruction. Yet she believes in a future of resourceful
innovation through systemic re-thinking, and her artworks are drenched in this
hope: the more beautiful the artworks, the clearer the message, as every
tessera she creates is in itself a protest against our disposable lifestyle,
providing a different perspective: from waste to wonder.
Ex-City solicitor, Francesca graduated with distinction in Mosaic
and Fine Arts at the London School of Mosaic in 2019, where she also
lectured the Fabrication module in 2021/22. She exhibited in over 100
venues internationally, was published in over 60 articles and textbooks
internationally, and won over 2 dozen awards internationally.
She
is the founder of the Payment in Kind(ness) initiative, accepting eco-friendly
actions as payment toward her artwork, and of Art for Trash, creating artwork
for residential, institutional and corporate settings internationally using the
clients’ own waste.
Gesamtkunstwerk,
her eco-artivism encompasses every aspect of her life: vegan, using renewable
energy, wearing second-hand clothes, plastic free wherever possible, growing a
vegetable and wildlife garden…and not flying for the past 4 years, she strives
to live as sustainably as possible.
Francesca also
gives inspirational talks to firms, institutions and schools, and runs pro bono
art projects on eco-awareness and sustainability. To name a few, she collaborated
with Living Streets, Salon Sustainability, Fernando Montaño, the London
International Gallery of Children’s Art (LIGCA), and the Camden Clean Air
Initiative on Earthfest 2024 and a few primary and secondary schools internationally.
Most recently, following an intriguing year-long collaboration with the
Institute of Marine Sciences in Venice (CNR-ISMAR) on Project Maelstrom and a
subsequent residency creating a permanent installation in loco with the institute's waste
during the Venice Boat Show 2024, Francesca was further offered a non-exclusive
collaboration retainer with the Institute to keep acting as a bridge between science and the public through art, starting in September 2024.
This retainer will also entail collaborations with some prestigious art institutes in Venice.
In short, Francesca's
quest is to push the boundaries of both mosaic and fine art, act as a catalyst for
sustainability and provoke real Change.