This winter we present a solo exhibition by Devon based artist Frances Gynn RWA. Frances’ work is informed by environmental issues and humanity’s engagement with nature. Through drawings and paintings her practice reflects growing concerns over the effects of plastics in the ecosystem, and in particular deforestation and its influence on habitat loss and the decline of many precious species. 

Process is an important part of her practice, in a way that echoes the characteristics of her subject. Layering oil paints and paint resists, she then rubs away paint with sandpaper, sometimes inviting the public to erase parts of her work as an interactive performance, in order to emphasise ideas of destruction and loss and to draw attention to the loss of species worldwide.

For this exhibition, Frances will be holding a Public Erasure event around her artwork ‘Hare’ on Saturday 11^th November from 11am to 12pm, and again from, 2pm to 3pm. The event will be opened by acclaimed writer and broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby 

“When  first I invited visitors to participate by erasing part of my drawing, the initial request was received with a look of shock and changed to one of concern, sadness, and then a desire to take part. Visitors refused to ‘erase’, saying that it "felt destructive" and a stronger “too aggressive". There were many reports of "feeling guilty” . Guilty for ‘erasing someone else’s beautiful drawing’ as well as guilty for ‘being part of this demise as a human being’. These emotions drove further thought..."Of course, this is the message to all of mankind". Frances Gynn

Frances Gynn graduated with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from the University of Exeter in 2000. She has participated in numerous site-specific events and exhibitions, including the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, and in 2018 and 2019 she was selected for the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize exhibition. In 2018 she was awarded a Fellowship at The Bogliasco Foundation, Italy, for her project Beach Conversations - Plastic Pollution, which raised awareness of the effects of toxic plastic particles on our health and environment, and in 2019 she was elected as a Royal West of England Academy Academician. Her recent Public Erasure projects have focused on drawing and performing an interactive body of work on endangered species.