Visual Poetry: Alumni & Current Student Artists
Franca Van Allen
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/franca_gva/
Bio:
Born in Italy, Franca completed her undergraduate work at American University in Washington DC, where she received a BA in psychology and philosophy. In California, she obtained her teaching credentials to through San Diego State University and worked as an educator in the public and private sector. Retired from her teaching career, she attended Delta collage and took art classes, mostly painting and printmaking. Currently, she is a full-time artist, she is teaching art classes at the Goodwin gallery in Stockton and at the Verge center for the Arts in Sacramento. Her work has been exhibited at the Horton gallery, Delta College; at the Goodwin gallery in Stockton; and the Transmission gallery, in Oakland.
Artist Statement:
I have been doing art since I can remember, mostly drawing. However, I realized that the ability to express myself artistically, was limited by my knowledge of techniques and mediums. Taking art classes at Delta college expanded my repertoire and enabled me to continue my artistic adventure with greater freedom of expression. In my work, abstract, realistic and decorative elements often combine to suggest the presence of known and unknown components of my everyday life, like objects or intuitions. Material objects and intuitive insights are represented through collage, acrylic painting, charcoals and printed media, often all in one piece. Through art, I relate to myself in my inner dialogues. Through art, I seek freedom of expression and the pleasure to find beauty in the world around me and within myself.
Work Statement
To be new, every day.
This body of work represents the moods and perspectives that populate my current inner space. They are a reflection of the way I see and experience the world at this stage, in my life. Solitude, authenticity and allowing myself to be as I am, and not as I remember me, these are the important themes in my work. To be new, every day is the freedom I explore through my art. I want to allow myself to exist as I am and not as I think I should be, or even as I remember I was once.
Evening (2024)
Charcoal/ collage
13” x 11”
$200
The evening is made for contemplation. The passage of time, the end of the day, they bring the mind to feel the immanence of the moment. I am present.
Sometimes She Comes Undone (2024)
Acrylic and charcoal/collage
7” x 11”
$150
The experience of being stressed and oppressed is as real as the events and people who cause it. Often, external circumstances cannot be changed, but my perspective can. Ha Jin’s poem describes this experience and prompts me to stay grounded, “to hold my distant center”.
A Center — by Ha Jin
You must hold your quiet center,
where you do what only you can do.
If others call you a maniac or a fool,
just let them wag their tongues.
If some praise your perseverance,
don't feel too happy about it—
only solitude is a lasting friend.
You must hold your distant center.
Don't move even if earth and heaven quake.
If others think you are insignificant,
that's because you haven't held on long enough.
As long as you stay put year after year,
eventually you will find a world
beginning to revolve around you.
Fear and Anger Turn to Art (2024)
Acrylics, charcoal, graphite, collage
5” x 5”
$80
I Want to be There — by Franca Van Allen
I believe in the unspoken promise
Of the next day
That I might stumble into beauty
And love
And I want to be there.
Hang on Sister Frog
I’ll be hanging with you.
Tomorrow morning our hearts
May bloom
Like the lotus.
In loving-kindness
— Franca
Exhibition Season:
Alumni Artists Files