Artist’s Statement:
In merging photography with painting, portraiture with dreamed landscapes, my images blur the boundaries between the real and the unreal, yet celebrate the connection we humans share with our non-human partners. Our interdependence demands respect, awe, and a recognition of our partners’ vulnerability.
Artist’s Bio:
Fran’s photo montage constructions have been exhibited widely, both locally and internationally, and are in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (Washington, DC), the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and many private collections.
ESCAPE ARTIST: THE ART OF FRAN FORMAN was published by Schiffer Publishing LTD and was selected as one of the Best PhotoBooks of 2014 by Elizabeth Avedon. Fran is also featured in CONTEMPORARY CAPE COD ARTISTS: People and Places, 2014, PHOTOSHOP MASKING AND COMPOSITING, 2012, and INTERNATIONALES MAGAZIN FUR SINNLICHE FOTOGRAPHIE (Fine Art Photo), 2014.
Fran’s solo exhibitions includes a six-month exhibit at the Fox Talbot Museum, Lacock Abbey, England, in 2015. She has won significant top prizes: the 2013 Julia Margaret Cameron International First Prize in Fine Art Photography, the 2012 Px3 Prix de la Photographie (Gold, Silver, and First Prize in three different categories), where her work was on exhibit in Paris. In 2011, she was one of thirty Americans invited to attend and exhibit at the 2nd Biennial International Photographic Cultural Festival in Lishui and other venues in China. Also in 2011, she won Second Prize (among over 8000 entries) from the Worldwide Photography Gala in the Portraits category. In 2010 and 2008, she won first place, second place, and an honorable mention at the International Photography Awards, and an Honorable Mention at the Julia Margaret Cameron awards. In 2010, 2008 and in 2007, she was a winner in PX3 Prix de la Photographie Paris, their People’s Choice award, and Adobe Photoworkshop.com. She has been a Critical Mass Finalist for three consecutive years. Her work appears in many journals, on-line blogs, several art books, and adorns the covers of many books.
She is represented by Pucker Gallery (Boston), AfterImage Gallery (Dallas), SusanSpiritus Gallery (Newport Beach, California), High Noon Art and Culture (Beijing), and Photo Méthode (Austin, Texas). She is a Resident Scholar at the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis, a recipient of several grants and Artist Residencies, and teaches digital collage at various colleges in Boston.
Fran studied art and sociology at Brandeis University, received an MSW in psychiatric social work, and then an MFA from Boston University.