Sharona Franklin

Funky 8 Ball
2019
Pillow cotton, polyester
96.5 x 91.5 cm. (38 x 36 in.)
Angiosperm Syringe
2022
Gelatine, medical syringe, wheat straw, tapioca, metal hardware, wild daisies, dried wildflowers
20.32 x 11.43 x 2.54 cm. (8 x 4½ x 1 in.)
Nest Egg for Transient Childhoods
2020
Silk, linen, polyester, cotton, velvet, corduroy
76 x 51 cm. (30 x 20 in.)
New Psychedelia of Industrial Healing
2020
Exhibition view
King's Leap, New York
Drosophila Clock y
2021
Silver, brass, aluminium, mixed metal, expired pharmaceuticals, wood, foraged bone, antler, photographs, enamel
50 × 50 cm. (19.5 × 19.5 in.)
Mycoplasma Altar
2020
Gelatin powder, daisies, foraged rose thorns sourced by Wretched Flowers, baby’s breath, juniper berry, metal nuts, kidney beans, amoxicillin pills, hydroxychloriquine pills, methotrexate pills, antibodies in glass syringe vials, tapioca pearls, sunflower seeds, metal button, almond extract, papier mâché, wood, acrylic and plaster
84 x 43 x 43 cm. (33 x 17 x 17 in.)
Machine Language
2022
Metal alloys, gelatin, paper, polyester, silk flowers, gelatine capsules, dried botanicals, juniper berries, edible pigment, wood, plastic
19.05 x 33.02 x 5.08 cm. (7½ x 13 x 2 in.)
Bioengine Eerie
2022
Cotton, felt, nylon, velvet, linen, silk, polyester, paper, plastic, digital textile photograph prints
41.9 x 55.9 cm. (16½ x 22 in.)
Axioms of Care
2021
Exhibition view
LambdaLambdaLambda, Kosovo
Inflammatory Aesculapian Knife
2021
Gelatin, metal ergonomic knife, metal hardware, mixed botanicals, kava kava, IV port, surgical tubing, plastic
16 × 10 × 4 cm. (6 × 4 × 1.5 in.)
Inflammatory Aesculapian Spoon
2021
Gelatin, metal ergonomic spoon, metal hardware, mixed botanicals, kava kava, IV port, surgical tubing, plastic
21 × 9 × 4 cm. (8 × 3.5 × 1.5 in.)
Akashic Egg
2021
Ceramic dish, metal hardware, juniper berries, tapioca, mixed botanicals, expired pharmaceuticals, gelatin
20 × 13 × 15 cm. (8 × 5 × 6 in.)
Inflammatory Aesculapian Fork
2021
Metal alloys, expired diclofenac pharmaceutical, medical tape, foraged animal bone, paint, yarn
28 × 17 × 3 cm. (11 × 6 3/4 × 1 in.)
Tenuous Support
2021
Gelatin, wool, metal, rubber, epoxy, expired pharmaceuticals, tapioca, mixed botanicals, camomile, beach glass, pansies, gelatin capsules, interleukin inhibitor antibody syringe, IV-port tubing, plastic
100 × 30 × 20 cm. (39.5 x 12 x 8 in.)
Bone Dust Commode
2021
Gelatin, sunflowers, tapioca, camomile, mixed botanicals, mixed metal hardware, expired pharmaceuticals, IV port/tubing, interleukin inhibitor antibody syringe, beach glass, metal alloy, wood
85 × 60 × 50 cm. (33.5 x 23.5 x 19.5 in.)

Funky 8 Ball
2019
Pillow cotton, polyester
96.5 x 91.5 cm. (38 x 36 in.)

Angiosperm Syringe
2022
Gelatine, medical syringe, wheat straw, tapioca, metal hardware, wild daisies, dried wildflowers
20.32 x 11.43 x 2.54 cm. (8 x 4½ x 1 in.)

Nest Egg for Transient Childhoods
2020
Silk, linen, polyester, cotton, velvet, corduroy
76 x 51 cm. (30 x 20 in.)

New Psychedelia of Industrial Healing
2020
Exhibition view
King's Leap, New York

Drosophila Clock y
2021
Silver, brass, aluminium, mixed metal, expired pharmaceuticals, wood, foraged bone, antler, photographs, enamel
50 × 50 cm. (19.5 × 19.5 in.)

Mycoplasma Altar
2020
Gelatin powder, daisies, foraged rose thorns sourced by Wretched Flowers, baby’s breath, juniper berry, metal nuts, kidney beans, amoxicillin pills, hydroxychloriquine pills, methotrexate pills, antibodies in glass syringe vials, tapioca pearls, sunflower seeds, metal button, almond extract, papier mâché, wood, acrylic and plaster
84 x 43 x 43 cm. (33 x 17 x 17 in.)

Machine Language
2022
Metal alloys, gelatin, paper, polyester, silk flowers, gelatine capsules, dried botanicals, juniper berries, edible pigment, wood, plastic
19.05 x 33.02 x 5.08 cm. (7½ x 13 x 2 in.)

Bioengine Eerie
2022
Cotton, felt, nylon, velvet, linen, silk, polyester, paper, plastic, digital textile photograph prints
41.9 x 55.9 cm. (16½ x 22 in.)

Axioms of Care
2021
Exhibition view
LambdaLambdaLambda, Kosovo

Inflammatory Aesculapian Knife
2021
Gelatin, metal ergonomic knife, metal hardware, mixed botanicals, kava kava, IV port, surgical tubing, plastic
16 × 10 × 4 cm. (6 × 4 × 1.5 in.)

Inflammatory Aesculapian Spoon
2021
Gelatin, metal ergonomic spoon, metal hardware, mixed botanicals, kava kava, IV port, surgical tubing, plastic
21 × 9 × 4 cm. (8 × 3.5 × 1.5 in.)

Akashic Egg
2021
Ceramic dish, metal hardware, juniper berries, tapioca, mixed botanicals, expired pharmaceuticals, gelatin
20 × 13 × 15 cm. (8 × 5 × 6 in.)

Inflammatory Aesculapian Fork
2021
Metal alloys, expired diclofenac pharmaceutical, medical tape, foraged animal bone, paint, yarn
28 × 17 × 3 cm. (11 × 6 3/4 × 1 in.)

Tenuous Support
2021
Gelatin, wool, metal, rubber, epoxy, expired pharmaceuticals, tapioca, mixed botanicals, camomile, beach glass, pansies, gelatin capsules, interleukin inhibitor antibody syringe, IV-port tubing, plastic
100 × 30 × 20 cm. (39.5 x 12 x 8 in.)

Bone Dust Commode
2021
Gelatin, sunflowers, tapioca, camomile, mixed botanicals, mixed metal hardware, expired pharmaceuticals, IV port/tubing, interleukin inhibitor antibody syringe, beach glass, metal alloy, wood
85 × 60 × 50 cm. (33.5 x 23.5 x 19.5 in.)

Biography

Sharona Franklin is a Canadian multidisciplinary disabled artist, writer, designer, consultant, and advocate. Deeply invested in bioethics and disability activism, her work explores radical therapies, bio-ritualism, ecology, and social interdependence. Franklin’s practice probes the psychic, social, and biomedical conditions of living with chronic degenerative diseases influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Many of her works draw on vernacular craft traditions and botany while also referencing pharmacology and cybernetic craft, creating tensions between the domestic and the techno-scientific. Franklin’s gelatin sculptures encase syringes, pills, hardware, and medicinal plants and flowers picked by the artist, while her textile works feature images and axioms surrounding discourses of disability, gender, class, and bio-citizenship. Her use of varied organic and pharmaceutical materials connects her extensive research into bioethics and environmental harm with holistic propositions for remediation and care, subverting the domestic alienation of disabled individuals and challenging our ideas surrounding accessibility, ableism, and care.

Sharona Franklin (b. 1987) lives and works in Vancouver, B.C. Her work was recently presented in solo exhibitions at the MIT List Visual Arts Center (Cambridge), King’s Leap (New York), and La Maison de Rendez-Vous – LambdaLambdaLambda (Brussels). Notable group exhibitions include the Audain Art Museum (Whistler), CIVA Museum (Brussels), Remai Modern (Saskatoon), Bradley Ertaskiran (Montreal), and New Image Art Gallery (Los Angeles), among others. Franklin was commissioned for a city-wide public art project in Vancouver in 2020, and was shortlisted for the Sobey Art Award in 2021. Her recent publications include Injustice in Biopharm (Cassandra Press, 2019) and Rental Bod (Peace Library Publications, 2016).

Born in 1987 in Vancouver, CA

Lives and works in Vancouver, CA