Francesca O’Malley
Painting
Francesca O’Malley is a New York City based artist, and native of Brooklyn, NY. Academic degrees include an MFA and BFA in painting from Pratt Institute. She also attended the Brooklyn Museum art school as a child. O’Malley works mostly in series, painting in acrylics on canvas sometimes incorporating mixed media, occasionally referencing background images appropriated from NASA, or from other satellite sources. Aerial satellite backgrounds or overhead planetary landscapes, may be juxtaposed with figurative elements, such as arms, hands, or torsos
Figurative elements in the foreground, may be presented at eye level, contradicting the view of the aerial landscape background and creating a cognitive dissonance and tension. Chiaroscuro is used to create drama. Sometimes graphic or typographic elements are included on a visual top layer.
Other works play with perspective in a dramatic way. Thematic lenticular objects are also part of her body of work. The recurring storyline of these works relates to multiple planes of existence, feelings of displacement, alienation, and musings about the future. Thanks to expansive Internet connectivity, we can be virtually anywhere at any time. The many-worlds theory is also part of the stream of consciousness thought process. Her work evokes wonder and makes one think about the many slices of reality which are created when technology and human interaction combine to influence our perceptions.
