“I’ve met a brilliant group of like minded creatives that I know I will be in touch with regularly in the future. Amy Cunningham has been a great support and mentor to me and she really helped me to find my language as an artist.”
Hi Amber – please tell us a bit about your work and your influences
“I’ve met a brilliant group of like minded creatives that I know I will be in touch with regularly in the future. Amy Cunningham has been a great support and mentor to me and she really helped me to find my language as an artist.” Hi Amber – please tell us a bit about your work and your influences
“I am fascinated by how we relate to other human beings and what formulates our perspectives of each another. Using formal documentation as part of my research, I compare it with personal connections. My most recent series ‘Safe Place, Safe Space’ compares images of my personal space with the physical objects that prove I existed within it. “Currently, I am also looking more specifically at toxic femininity – how women interact and treat one another (outside of the male gaze) – from what I can gather, this isn’t really talked about or highlighted much in the art world.
“My influences range from David Lynch and Diane Arbus, to Stanley Kubrick and Kate Bush.”
How have you found your course and time at Brighton?
“I’ve met a brilliant group of like minded creatives that I know I will be in touch with regularly in the future. Amy Cunningham has been a great support and mentor to me and she really helped me to find my language as an artist. “It has been very difficult not having access to the printing and photography departments. My work would have been pushed much further if I could have been on campus. I feel like I have missed out of a huge chapter of why I chose to do my MA at Brighton.”
How did you choose your course – why did you choose to study Fine Art?
“Fine Art has always been something I wanted to study after working in the fashion industry after my BA. I was always going to study at Brighton as I see it as a spiritual home. This subject covers a wide range of perspectives and encourages you to explore areas of your creativity that you may not have confidence in. “I would describe studying fine art as like opening your third eye. You have the ideas and the skill, and the course gives you that perspective and grounding you need to push forward.”
What are your plans after graduation?
“I am hoping to continue exhibiting and producing new works. Teaching at a university level is also something I am interested in. Having an MA Fine Art will open my options up employment wise as it represents so many ways of thinking.”
Featured image: from Amber’s ‘Isolation with Dementia’ series. One of the images is permanently in the Historic England Archive – she was interviewed on BBC radio and highlighted on the local BBC News for this project.
About the project Amber says: “Isolation with Dementia’ is one of my strongest bodies of work. I documented my late Grandmother during the first lockdown when I moved her in with me. There is an intimacy with yourself that comes from being in your own environment for all that time. Now that she has passed away, I’m left with a huge body of work based on her that is also historical. The irrespective of it has changed and I’m sure will continue to as the years go by.”
Instagram: @amberrfranks
Website: www.amberfranks.co.uk
Email: amberfranksinfo@gmail.com
