The Kurator Interview: British artist Debra Franses in Dubai

The Kurator catches up with British artist Debra Franses during her exhibition at the ArtKōrero pop-up gallery in THAT, Dubai, where she is revealing her exclusive piece made for the UAE…

My father's side of the family was involved with trade and fashion accessories. My grandfather who was Greek was a manufacturer of straw and felt hoods which he supplied to the military industry. However, during the war, his business shrunk, and when my father joined his business, they opened trade with China and imported the foods from China. My father expanded the business into handbags and handbag fittings and used to work with designers to help them visualize the finished product. This took him traveling to Italy very often and he would return with designer handbags and accessories for my sister, mother, and myself; so, dressing up was always part of our upbringing.

The handbag became symbolic of both absence and presence, and a carry case for all things important in our lives. From tissues to toothpicks, money to lipsticks, keys, change, lucky charms… We never left home without our important possessions. It was a height of independence to carry your own and not have to rely on a parent for your necessary items. So, when I finally went to Central Saint Martins to study art I joined the sculpture department and when we were asked to bring in an object that held significant meaning in our lives, I was immediately drawn to bringing in one of my small handbags. It symbolized fashion, practicality, independence, and womanliness. It became my canvas then and to this day.

As a child, I played music, danced and choreographed shows, I was always drawing, cutting my clothes, and making clothes for my dolls. My grandmother was a seamstress, and my mother taught me needlework. I loved fashion, drawing, art exhibitions, pottery, and all forms of creativity I was fascinated with the bohemian way that artists lived. I always knew it was going to be a difficult career path, and my parents tried to dissuade me as I became a young adult and I studied economics and politics before getting married and going to Art School. The creations were my babies! From the age of six, I wanted to be an international artist. My father spoke many languages and we were encouraged to take a global outlook on citizenship. For me, art was a universal language to connect with people around the world. I feel emotions very intensely as colours. I also have a very acute sense of smell and art became a way of communicating without the language barrier. It felt natural, open, and honest in a way that words and gestures could not for me. Later I discovered this to be a form of synesthesia.

I explore ideas of consumption and mass and luxury production. We have a complex relationship with material objects as both consumable goods and a source of memories from youth to romance. We are hungry for the joy of consumption, from food to objects to fashion. My Artbag creations contain a range of elements from Kitsch to keys, money to motors, and lipstick to lollypops. Inspired by pop art but containing a conceptual rigor that goes far beyond the surface. The nostalgia for real items in our digital age teases the viewer who can look but cannot touch. The transparent modern medium of resin encapsulation gives the chosen items a visually intensified presence, with the anticipation of their consumption forever suspended in time, never to be realised. Now more than ever, we curate and display the emblems that we love, and they, in turn, curate and display us.

In cases of loneliness or self-protection and lack of a strong sense of self, people turn to worship objects, superficially called status symbols but the root is psychologically far deeper and more unavoidable. For instance, it starts at birth when we leave the security of the womb! A child transfers his or her love to a toy or teddy bear or pet for comfort, so, as adults, we replicate this. As humans we are fragile and vulnerable and whilst human relations can fill us with joy when they fail our human behaviour turns towards dependable items. A car, a plant, a blue jumper, pair of shoes, a love of handbags! So, synesthesia can facilitate feelings of intimacy with objects where intimate feelings can be fulfilled more easily in relationships with objects rather than people, an appreciation for objects which gives rise to intimate and romantic feelings over time.

The creation of an Artbag has been likened to freezing a moment in time. Objects are selected to tell the story and, occasionally, delicate items may need their own special mould. The silicone mould of the handbag comprises two to four parts and an initial layer is poured before the items are balanced where chaos and order interplay with colour and texture as the bags are curated and formed.

Liquid resin is poured in, in layers to strategically place the objects as if they are balancing in air. Layers take days to cure as the slow process preserves the items without melting them at high heat as the resin gets very hot as it turns hard. Up to 20 layers can be needed to create the final artwork. This can take 6 - 8 weeks. If there are problems in the casting it's necessary to return to the process again. To remove any last traces of air, the completed Artbag is put into a pressure chamber; this is the most delicate stage of the process, as it is important to prevent any bubbles from being created in the resin. After the final cure, the Artbag stays in the mould for several days, before being sanded and polished to a high sheen.

I had just had my son Newton and New York was a huge metropolis where I had access to incredible art galleries and shops. I had my first gallery show in Gallery Artware editions in Greenwich Village Manhattan where I was commissioned to create a collection of Artbags in resin that sat upon an illuminated stand that I cast from a block of wood! Being in New York was just incredible and gave me the perfect start to progress my art career ambitions after my son was born so it wasn't just baby groups that we attended but art collectors and museums. It was a candy store of visual stimulation!

When I was asked by ArtKorero to make a bag about Dubai exclusively for THAT, I took research from some of the most generous people and the result was simple and classy. A string of worry beads, a classic bottle of oud oil, a pair of sunglasses, a pen and key ring from the museum of the future to represent new world values. I added a simple key fob from a British luxury car brand as I knew that the cars in Dubai were fantastic and well looked after. In a city where crypto currency is replacing real money a wallet of folded notes is proudly displayed with an old coin. A red lipstick to represent the voice and beauty of Arabian women was also important for me. I’ve been imagining this place for years. Captivated by the mysterious cultural differences and beauty of the desert a trace of mystical smoke drifts through the creation. A happy accident...we can only control so much in life; the rest is fate.