Becky Franco

Large scale “Realism” is the way I best represent my ideas. I try to find my truth by drawing from self-examination,

observation of everyday experiences and the landscapes of my environment. I paint the everyday, and the commonplace objects that surround me in my life and that I have a peculiar fascination for.

At this time my body of work is an homage to French Psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan’s extraordinary “sardine can” story which enchanted me upon first hearing of it. It explained the phenomena of Lacan feeling actually ensnared by a sardine can’s gleaming radiance floating on the water and his feeling of the can’s mutual gaze.

The recognition and realization of Lacan’s philosophy was an epiphany for me. I realized it is not only I who am selecting my paintings objects. These objects have the power of entrapment. With his theory I realized that there is a strange connection between the observer with the observed.

The Objects in my paintings seem to acquire a certain presence as if they were watching us. While developing my work I realized that viewing happens from both directions. Seeing is a reciprocal process. We are helpless in controlling how we see the world. Artists paint what they see and thus expose their subconscious to their audience.

The objects in my paintings have had an irresistible effect on me. The gleams and glints sparkling on my dining room chandelier caught my eye like the ‘sardine can’ ensnared Lacan on that fateful fishing trip. Looking at this chandelier is like falling in love. I had no control of my heart. I was helpless and at the mercy of this object. Consequently, the repetitive appearance of this chandelier is engrained in my paintings.

All objects ultimately say one thing. Look at Me! Objects seem to be waiting for us to notice them. The bright gleam on the red Sang de Boeuf Vases was like a hypnotist’s device to cause our eyes to fixate upon it.

The objects I paint have an emotional meaning. Whenever I look at those objects they are like a little mirror returning a small part of my image to myself. Everything I look at defines me and I have a particular relation to each thing I look at.

Seeing is self-definition and the incoming gaze tells me what I am and gives me a sense of myself, exposing what is inside of my very core.

From that point of discovery I started to have the feeling that I observe the world but the world is also looking back. I have realized that I don’t really exist apart from the objects I represent in my paintings. Part of me is the object and part of the object is me.

Our relation to the things and objects contain cultural attributes and they define our relationship to our world. The objects around me leave me defenseless and exposed. My self is opened to the spectator, and consequently I am judged by my surroundings, therefore declaring loudly who I am.

These objects pass judgment on me. This embarrasses me as I feel that my inner feelings are exposed to all.

When I represent an object in my paintings with Lacan’s theories in mind I think how the object, through its connections in our culture, defines me and influences the person engaging with the painting. Once we become aware that the object and subject are linked as one, we become attentive to them and stimulate the viewer to see the object/subject liaison and its inevitable revelations about the artist.