Wynn Newhouse Awards

Statement
Sharona Franklin (b. 1987) is a Canadian multidisciplinary artist, writer, and advocate. Her work explores disability justice, radical healing methodologies, accessibility, remediation, cybernetic craft, bio-ritualism, ecology and biopharmacology, all of which have become pivotal to our social interdependence. Sharona creates her sculptures in her home as she does not have access to studio space, her practice developed organically from her experiences living with physical disability and multiple rare diseases from birth. Sharona was frequently displaced between multiple rural towns, and navigated access barriers as a disabled youth in the welfare system. Growing up with limited resources lead her to a resourceful sensibility and a uniquely unconventional D.I.Y. approach using predominantly recycled, scavenged, and discarded materials as seen in her quilts such as Comfort Studies, and Nest Egg for Transient Childhoods. Sharona grew up thrifting, foraging, fishing, hunting, cooking and sewing and is self-taught in her practice. She enjoys research-based processes and continues to develop her work through writing, baking, sculpting, painting, designing, and social practice.

Franklin’s practice engages in visual psychedelia as a healing methodology, a radical acceptance of the internal and external impacts disabled & chronically ill bodies endure with resilience within an able-centric society. In Crip Clock, Franklin points to the disillusionment living in crip time, and the powerplay of pharmaceutical intervention on children, and impact of such on our circadian rhythm. Franklin’s practice coalesces discourse around power, resources, access and biocitizenship as seen in Anti-Alpha Principles, a biodegradable childrens wicker casket encased in gelatin, flowers and pharmaceuticals, speaking to the powerless experiences of a disabled child. Sharona frames psychedelia as an immersive deprogramming, a holistic approach to sculptural objects such as the reclaimed church pews in Mutual Examination, inviting us to pay homage, contemplate and re-imagine our environmental experiences and communities which have historically been stigmatized through able-centric and conventional viewpoints on disability.

Tenuous Support I, reflects the fragility of the body; a mobility cane made of gelatin, commenting on the invisible systemic and bureaucratic barriers accessing care and biomedicine. Biomateriality and symbiosis of animal gelatin and foraged medicinal herbs reflect areas of research relevent to big pharma and ethics of animal usage also seen in Mycoplasma Altar. Utilizing everyday kitchen devices, and as seen in Inflammatory Aesculpian Knife & Spoon, the assistive devices are comprised of gelatin interacting with climate, light, air pressure, humidity, bacteria & fungus sensitive, acting as a petri dish responding to it’s environments similarly to flaura & fauna. The sculptures are susceptible to decomposing or become occupied with contaminants depending on the external environment. Sharonas sculptures are created with intent to eventually decay and decompose, reflective of temporality and vulnerability living with childhood degenerative bone and organ disease. Her biorituals tell an intricate story. The gelatin and paper mache both stem from living flora and fauna. As Sharonas mobility decreases through the progression of degenerative disease, her ability to produce these sculptures is impacted. Sharona can only produce a few each year with the help of access assistance.

Each amorphous install is a meditation on interspecies symbiosis and de-stigmantization of disability. Wish You Well, a papier mache wishing well comprised of gelatin bricks encasing bones, fish, plants and biomedical waste speaks to the ongoing cycle of pharmaceuticals in our land and wastewater, raising questions of remediation in the face of capitalist-driven wellness & productivity culture.

Along with her sculptural installation works, plain text within her activism is important to Sharona. She has developed a social media practice @hot.crip, which is comprised of 500+ educational & comedic memes in support of disability justice, as seen in her installation view of framed memes currently exhibiting at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Sharona's work has been recognized by international institutions including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Art Basel Miamia, Museion Bolzano, Museum of Modern Kunst Frankfurt, The University of Arts Berlin, The University of British Columbia, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, the University of Berkley, The Vancouver Art Gallery and Simon Fraser University. Sharona has been published in the New York Times, BBC news, Vogue, Pinup Mag, Elephant Mag, among many others.

Disability: Mobility impaired, multiple rare degenerative diseases. Juvenile Still’s disease, juvenile ankylosing spondylitis, pericarditis, vasculitis, syringomyelia, Von Willebrands disease, dyslexia, endometriosis, PTSD & other comorbidities.

Museum of Modern Kunst; Tenuous Support I 2021 metal cane, rubber, gelatin, expired pharmaceuticals, IV tubing, mixed botanicals, sunflower seeds	Vancouver Art Gallery: Extant Butterfly 2022 wood, chain, gelatin, bone, fish scales, poppies, denim pocket, cannabis leaves grown by the Impaired Project, oat straw, calendula flowers, passionflower medicinal herbs grown by the Compassion Club Society, seeds, borage flowers, butterfly IV tubing, metal hardware, Okanagan bee pollen	Museion Bolzano: Wish You Well 2022 wishing well made of plywood, papier mache, paint, gelatin bricks with expired pharmaceuticals, mixed herbs & foliage, discarded medical equipment, laminated collage poetry	MIT List Center Installation Boston,: Anti-Alpha Principles 2021 willow wicker casket, gelatin, fabric, expired pharmaceuticals, mixed herbs & foliage Mutual Examination 2021 wooden church pews, latex paint Hospital Curtains Installation, Nest Egg For Transient Childhoods mixed fabrics, silk, polyester, vinyl, cotton Dimensions vary
Art Basel Miami: Crip Clock 2021 Inflammatory Aesculpian Knife & Spoon 2021 mixed metals, expired pharmaceuticals, medical tubing, foliage, gelatin	Simon Fraser University Audain Gallery installation: Tellurian Dinner 2020 wall vinyl decal, acrylic paint, wild hay	Kings Leap NYC installation: Mycoplasma Altar 2020 gelatine sculpture, paper mache, daisies, foraged rose thorns by Wretched Flowers, babies breath, juniper berries, biopharm anti-bodies in glass syringe vials, metal nuts, kidney beans, amoxicillin pills, anti-malarial meds, methotrexate pills, tapioca pearls, sunflower seeds, metal button, almond extract, paper mache, wood, acrylic, plaster Comfort Studies 2020 mixed fabrics, silk, polyester, vinyl, cotton	@HOT.CRIP Installation at Vancouver Art Gallery aluminum & glass frames 22x22 digital prints on paper