Deidre DeFranceaux
My current work is a synthesis of my portrait painting and sculptural practices, incorporating 3D elements such as fabric, costume jewels, and personal items with oil painting, encased in epoxy resin.
I have been working on Legacy Series of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, which refers to an Order of queer and trans nuns that began in San Francisco in 1979 and has expanded globally. The Sisters use campy humor and irreverent wit to promulgate universal joy and expiate stigmatic guilt. These pieces, like the subjects, are larger than life, ornately embellished, explore genderfuck, and break the box in every direction.
I will be adding authentic vocal-sound pieces to the work for a deeper connection with the viewer. My Harvey Milk piece depicts Harvey riding on the top of a convertible with a pearl-encrusted exterior, his life story splayed out on the windshield. The deconstructed cameras and spooled film rolls speak of the parallel nature of creating artwork and political activism; each is a long and complicated process of trial and error, failure and success.