{"id":36234,"date":"2020-05-29T18:58:51","date_gmt":"2020-05-29T18:58:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artzealous.com\/?p=36234"},"modified":"2020-05-29T18:58:54","modified_gmt":"2020-05-29T18:58:54","slug":"the-zealous-set-sharona-franklin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/the-zealous-set-sharona-franklin\/","title":{"rendered":"The Zealous Set | Sharona Franklin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
In our series, The Zealous Set, we talk to the artists catching our attention about what they\u2019re creating, watching, reading, and what they’re being inspired by. This week we chat with Sharona Franklin<\/a>, who’s elaborate jellies hold a darker meaning behind their colorful quirkiness.<\/em><\/strong> Food has forever been connected with health and medicine. Jelly in particular has been used in medicinal practice as far back as medieval times, before becoming the multi-layered architectural forms of the 1950s for table centerpieces. Activist and artist Sharona Franklin explores this connection in her beautiful and elaborate gelatin cakes, laboriously constructed in her tiny Vancouver housing and documented as @Paid.Technologies<\/a> on Instagram.\u00a0\u00a0 These colorful jellies appear zen-like and have an almost ASMR-for-the-eyes, soothing quality on first view, however upon closer inspection delve into disability politics, medical technology and discrimination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Living with a variety of rare complex systemic diseases, including Still\u2019s Disease, the artist\u2019s work aims to challenge perceptions of chronic illness and what it means to be differently-abled. The gelatin signifies the cellular use of animals, not only in food but in the pharmaceuticals administered to her daily.\u00a0 We talked to Franklin about the meaning behind her jellies, her experience with isolation during COVID-19 and how memes allow her to engage her community.
Alexandra Fanning speaks with Sharona Franklin about the importance of sustenance \u2013 both bodily and mentally \u2013 the joys of reality TV in quarantine, and meme activism.<\/em>
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Franklin\u2019s sculptural practice varies from these medicinal food creations to functional fiber creations, ceramics and pottery plates, to poetry and zines. She experiments with net-art, memes and literature dedicated to disability awareness and fostering her community.
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