Sherié Franssen
SATISFACTION IS NOTHING
November 2 - December 2, 2006
Opening Reception: Thursday, November 2, 5:30-7:30 PM
The world is burning. A creaky hand presses the revolving door and leaves an oil smudge on the glass. Silence greets the visitor in the empty hall. At 38 years this is her first time. Better keep moving, she thinks, nothing is certain. Moving room to room the old anxiety creeps over her reminding her that nothing works. Like everyone else she has told the lies, held back and withdrawn. Being so full of satisfaction had left her unprepared for the force of it. When it happened she ran. Using her creaky hands to push her way out, she left to find a rotary phone.
- Sherié Franssen
Franssen gathers thoughts and ideas for her paintings through stories. The above passage was written after Franssen experienced her first Philip Guston painting. Says Guston, “Frustration is one of the great things in art; satisfaction is nothing.”
In these works, Franssen struggles for a visual language and the paintings chronicle her progress in depicting the world. During this quest for discovery, there is a great deal of dismantling going on which is reflected in the work. Each time Franssen paints, her surroundings become irrelevant and the process becomes experimental. Franssen avoids defining the work as figurative or abstract, pushing one against the other and creating new forms. The objective of Franssen’s paintings is to allow the viewer to find his or her own narrative.
Sherie’ Franssen received her BFA in Drawing and Painting from California State University. Franssen has exhibited at the Carl Berg Gallery, Los Angeles, Laguna Art Museum and the San Diego Art Institute. She has also been featured in New American Paintings.