B. NEW YORK, NY, 1981
Francesca DiMattio is a sculptor who takes a layered and non-hierarchical approach to sculpture, resulting in a cacophony of disparate references and styles within each fluid construction. DiMattio works with various types of ceramics, ranging from porcelain to stoneware. Her chosen mediums necessitate technical precision and skill, though her practice is ultimately meandering, playful, explosive, and shifting – she mixes reference to high and low, East and West, the historical and the contemporary.
In her newest works made of porcelain, she mines the rich history of the medium, alluding to an almost encyclopedic lineage: English Rococo vases, Turkish tiles, Islamic Fritware, Viennese Du Paquier, French Sèvres porcelain, Wedgwood figurines and Meissen vases are all sources. She pairs these historical antecedents with references to contemporary kitsch, like Chintzware, mass-produced glass vases, floral-patterned tissue boxes and Laura Ashley bedsheets.
DiMattio’s work is currently included in Ceramics in the Expanded Field at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams, MA. The artist’s work is in the collections of the Perez Art Museum, Miami, FL; the Frances Young Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY; the Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY; the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, Waltham, MA; the Saatchi Gallery, London, UK; and the Zabludowicz Collection, London (UK)
