Exhibitions

Sabbia Gallery is pleased to present the solo exhibition Verdant, the newest collection of works by leading Australian ceramic artist Cathy Franzi.

Dr Cathy Franzi is an award-winning visual artist interested in expressing scientific and environmental knowledge through the representation of Australian flora on ceramic form. Her interdisciplinary approach is informed by a first degree in Science and has led to numerous science-art projects including the prestigious ANU Vice-Chancellor’s Artist Visiting Fellows residency with the ANU Research School of Biology and the ‘Art of Threatened Species’ funded by the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage.

Franzi has exhibited in many solo and group exhibitions in Australia and overseas. Her work is held in public collections including Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery, Parliament House Art Collection, Manly Museum & Art Gallery, Canberra Museum & Gallery and Shepparton Art Museum. Franzi has received numerous awards, most recently Highly Commended in the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize 2020 and People’s Choice Award in the 2020 Klytie Pate Ceramic Award.

This new body of work by Cathy Franzi takes inspiration from the plentiful spring and summer seasons post fire, with its abundance of rain and subsequent flourishing growth and her appreciation of newly noticed vegetation in precious local nature areas and bushland.

Cathy says of her work:

Australian flora and the natural environments in which they inhabit are a source of wonder and inspiration for my work. I draw upon my science background and fieldwork to gain a depth of understanding in which to express vulnerabilities and resilience. This body of work explores ephemeral species emerging in abundance after fire and those that delight with prolific flowering after generous rain. The rich potential of the ceramic medium enables me to find a path through form, material and surface imagery to evoke the botanical world.