ARTISTS
Stephanie Franks: Kind of Blue
In Kind of Blue, Stephanie Franks invites viewers into a world where color becomes both a language and a form of release. The exhibition鈥檚 title is a nod to Miles Davis鈥� legendary 1959 album, in which Davis gave his musicians only the barest outlines, encouraging them to find their own way, through improvisation. That same spirit runs through Franks鈥� work: a trust in intuition, and in the freedom that comes from focused observation of color and form, while listening to one鈥檚 own inner voice.
The artist traces her own 鈥渒ind of blue鈥� beginnings back to her mid-thirties, when she was experiencing some stubborn health issues: 鈥淚 began to make person-size blue paintings, thinking that blue was the color I needed to be immersed in, in order to heal,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t was that simple鈥攁nd apparently it worked. Color has always been a soulmate, a primary force in how I experience the world and express my deepest stirrings,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hen I鈥檓 in its thrall, I鈥檓 in a good space鈥攎entally and psychically.鈥�
While Kind of Blue is not limited to a single color, its large blue canvases anchor the show, much as Davis鈥� modal progressions anchor his music鈥攐pen, meditative, and spacious. Around them, collages, drawings, and paintings unfold like visual improvisations: structured yet alive, measured yet full of surprise. Collage, she says, 鈥渓ets me feel like a kid in a sandbox.鈥� Her black-and-white drawings, meanwhile, distill structure while exploring the poetry of space. Also included are transcriptions鈥� re-imaginings of great masterworks from the past which serve to deepen her own work鈥檚 sense of dialogue and discovery.
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In Kind of Blue, Stephanie Franks invites viewers into a world where color becomes both a language and a form of release. The exhibition鈥檚 title is a nod to Miles Davis鈥� legendary 1959 album, in which Davis gave his musicians only the barest outlines, encouraging them to find their own way, through improvisation. That same spirit runs through Franks鈥� work: a trust in intuition, and in the freedom that comes from focused observation of color and form, while listening to one鈥檚 own inner voice.
The artist traces her own 鈥渒ind of blue鈥� beginnings back to her mid-thirties, when she was experiencing some stubborn health issues: 鈥淚 began to make person-size blue paintings, thinking that blue was the color I needed to be immersed in, in order to heal,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t was that simple鈥攁nd apparently it worked. Color has always been a soulmate, a primary force in how I experience the world and express my deepest stirrings,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hen I鈥檓 in its thrall, I鈥檓 in a good space鈥攎entally and psychically.鈥�
While Kind of Blue is not limited to a single color, its large blue canvases anchor the show, much as Davis鈥� modal progressions anchor his music鈥攐pen, meditative, and spacious. Around them, collages, drawings, and paintings unfold like visual improvisations: structured yet alive, measured yet full of surprise. Collage, she says, 鈥渓ets me feel like a kid in a sandbox.鈥� Her black-and-white drawings, meanwhile, distill structure while exploring the poetry of space. Also included are transcriptions鈥� re-imaginings of great masterworks from the past which serve to deepen her own work鈥檚 sense of dialogue and discovery.
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