Amanda Francom: Queer Bodies
In the confined space of their living room, Amanda Francom positioned a DSLR camera on the floor. Twisting their body into an arcane perspective, the image was then used as a reference for their painting ‘Vulnerable’.
Vulnerable
In the piece, we see their body hunched over in an upward angle, the focal point of the painting moving upwards in a spiraling motion that highlights vulnerability. The pink undertones and circular lines give their art a fleshy appearance that is reminiscent of Ruben.
“I wanted to express the vulgarity of queer bodies. It’s about looking at a nonbinary body, and there isn’t a guideline of how people are supposed to look. Yet people will project things onto you.” Amanda revealed about their painting. “As a gay person and a nonbinary person, I do feel like it’s my job to be vulnerable for others who may not feel as safe.”
Look
When examining Amanda’s artwork it appears that nudes are a large motif in their repertoire. However, these bodies depart from impassive nudes hung on museum walls, instead, they are colored with a myriad of personalities and adorn larger proportions.
“I know a lot of people will say ‘the figure has been done’, ‘the figure is dead’ but like how much has the queer figure been done? How many [figures of] people of color have been done? It hasn’t. It’s a matter of representation.” they pointed out.
Intention
Influenced by their artist mother, Amanda has been consistently drawing from a tender age. As they grew their skills they began to tap into other mediums such as painting and charcoal. Most recently their lifelong passion for the arts has led them to study Fine Arts at the University of Utah where their technique has evolved to mirror a classical style.
“ Things that are considered classically fine art are kind of stuck. Not for really any reason other than the people who are in that world and are perpetuating that type of art are cis, straight, or white. It might just be that a lot of younger people may consider classical art to be kind of stuffy.” Amanda elaborated on the current state of art.
Not Quite Open To the Idea of Vulnerability
More of Amanda Francom’s art can be found on their Instagram page.
