Frances Crowe

Website: www.francescrowe.com

E-mail: francescrowe3@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fcrowetapestry

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crowefrances

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/francescroweartist

tapestry TAPESTRY WEAVING weaving Woven fibre art fiber art fibre artist Fiber Artist weaver

Photo1: Frances Crowe weaving. Photo Credit: Mile Hourigan

Bio.

Frances Crowe was born in Waterford and studied Fine Art in The National College of Art and Design Dublin, where she discovered the weaving department and fell in love with Tapestry. She moved to Roscommon in 1980 and opened Grange Studio. She worked as an art teacher for many years while still maintaining her artistic practice. As an educator, collaborator and curator Frances has facilitated many school and community based art projects.

Photo 2: Frances Crowe, Sea Journey, Size 148x120cm

Supported by Creative Ireland, Roscommon Arts Office and The Bealtaine Festival. In more recent years, with the support of local and national agencies Frances founded The International Tapestry and fibre arts festival, bringing Irish and International artists together to exhibit and discuss their work. Her tapestries have been selected for many high profile fibre art exhibitions in Ireland, England, China and Canada. She has been commissioned to create tapestries for public spaces and private collections, in Ireland and abroad. She has received many awards, most recently, An Agility Award from the Arts Council of Ireland. She has been selected by The Michelangelo Foundation for inclusion in the Homo Faber guide for Master Artisans.

Photo 3: Frances Crowe, Love in a pandemic. Size. 84x120cm, Photo credit. Tony Murphy

Photo 4: detail of young lovers in Love in a Pandemic

Photo 5: Frances Crowe, Wild Swimming

Photo 6: Frances Crowe with the Disappeared Installation

Statement

My art practice seeks to name and reframe important social and cultural issues of our times which have resulted in much suffering and the displacement of the poorest peoples, particularly, women and children. Those are my deepest concerns impacting on all our futures.

Photo 7: Frances Crowe, Phase 2 Celebrating humanity and love for all nations

Photo 8: weaving the love knot in Phase 2 Celebrating Solidarity and love for all nations.

Photo 9: Frances Crowe with Phase 1 Tapestry Celebrating Front line Workers in Health Care

Photo 10: Frances Crowe Weaving eyes, Phases of recovery work

My chosen medium is tapestry, drawing in thread. As all our lives hang on a thread, my practice embodies age-old gestures of loom and shuttle, warp and weft. For me, weaving is both ancient gesture and thought paradigm. In my day-to-day art practice, weaving provides me with a visual language, a methodology and a conceptual framework to investigate and attempt to map and make some sense of the grave challenges of our times.