Cwén

About Cwén

In a new series of abstracted figurative sculptures, Frances Semple is having fun with form. With this piece created from a polymer/gypsum material a female figure's upper body is separated from her torso and legs (her torso is outlined in black). Cwén is an old English word for Queen. Semple’s figure is sitting on her 'throne.' The material is textured and the palette is neutral—a dark gray defines the upper body, arms and legs offering contrast to the cream colour of the torso and the pale pink of the throne.

“I'm having fun with form and, where I've drawn into the clay, I'm playing with and bringing together the two dimensions of drawing (2-D) and sculpture (3-D).” Frances Semple

Frances Semple was born in 1956 in Scotland and grew up in Brampton, Ontario. After high school she moved to Toronto and studied sculpture and mould making at the Ontario College of Art and continued her studies in Florence, Italy and Edinburgh, Scotland. She acquired a BFA from Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver. She has exhibited throughout Canada and in the U.S. Her work is held in numerous public and private collections.