Meet Fran Flaherty
We recently sat down with Pittsburgh-based Fran Flaherty and asked her a few questions about her creative process and career.
Fran is a Deaf artist and educational consultant living in Pittsburgh for over 25 years. As a first-generation immigrant from the Philippines, her work is centered on issues surrounding migrant family relations and assimilation, maternal feminism, & disability aesthetics that synthesizes traditional media and physical computing.
We’ve worked with Fran for many years across many of our programs at Casey Droege Cultural Productions and had the pleasure of acquiring her work for art consulting projects. She has been a presenting artist at SIX x ATE, a mentoring artist within our fellowship and exhibition partnership with Creative Citizens Studios, and created work for innovative spaces like the Tryp Hotel. We look forward to continuing to work with her as The Art Supply Co.
What is your artistic process like?
I like combining traditional materials with technology such as painting and digital prints, 3D prints and ceramics, etc. I try to find the most efficient way of producing the pieces I want. Despite this obsession, I realize that my work becomes what it becomes and, most often, I am pleasantly surprised that it doesn’t go as planned.
Where do you draw inspiration?
My work generally encompasses three topics: maternal feminism, immigration and race, and disability aesthetics. I draw inspiration from how humanity deals with these three topics. I also draw inspiration from my family, as they make me want to produce work that they can be proud of.
What is the purpose of the work you make?
I feel that as artists we can express truth, reflect history of times, and see our audience as valuable beings who can communicate our work to others. It is important to me that I create work that is truthful, real, and that can be utilized to make our way of life, our planet, our spirits, and our relationships better than they were yesterday.
What is the most meaningful work you feel you’ve created so far?
That is a difficult question because I have strong convictions to my chosen advocacy. I try very hard to make all my work meaningful, but if I had to choose, it would be Jewels from 2015. I collected unusable breast milk from nursing mothers, encased it in resin, and transformed it into precious gems. I then gifted these back to the mothers and used some in my work. I have a sense of solidarity with the mothers who have participated in this project and think about how vital it is to support motherhood. We are, after all, the caregivers of humanity and the planet.
What do you have coming up next?
I just completed Deaf Brown American Mom at Space Gallery. Currently, Anthropology of Motherhood is being shown at the Three Rivers Arts Festival. AoM is an ongoing curation of artwork and design that engages in the complex visual, material, emotional, corporeal, and lived experiences of motherhood, care-giving, parenting, nurturing, and maternal labor. We are very fortunate to have a home at the Three Rivers Arts Festival. As a member of the #notwhite collective, we have a billboard up on Tito Way in Downtown Pittsburgh called “Dreaming Forward/Abstract Joy.” Also look forward to a Fall 2022 show!
How can our audience support you?
You can visit my website, purchase art, and follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter (@fcflaherty). Or, send me an email and let me know what you think about my work or what other kind of work you would like to see. I am always open to ideas from viewers.