Today we’d like to introduce you to Francesca Monzon.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m an artist/songwriter who produces my own music and am lucky to have had a plethora of musical experiences that give me a unique perspective on what I want my music to be.
I’ve had the pleasure of being a full time bass player in New Orleans as well as Minneapolis, and the music of these cities has entirely shaped how I conceive of music, and groove especially. From a young age I was always drawn to the sound of classic New Orleans records, and (admittedly late) I came to absolutely adore Prince and other “Minneapolis Sound” artists like The Time. The sonic culmination of these cities’ sounds in addition to my experiences being a musician in the two helped make me see what makes people move on a dance floor, what melodies grab people, and what I simultaneously love to play.
I want the music that I make to be all of this, fun to take part in-no matter if you’re playing or listening. If you’d like a glimpse into this, you can watch my latest performance video via Drifter Music Group in Minneapolis, where I play my original song “Pal.”
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am a witness.
When I went to Antarctica 26 years ago, the words “glacial pace” had a different meaning. The ice moved constantly but slowly. Melting during the two summer months and freezing back up the rest of the time.
I have been chasing this moving ice for the past quarter century, knowing the whole time that I wanted to paint these alien worlds and bring them back to the warmer parts of the planet. These paintings are based on my trips to Antarctica, Iceland, Alaska, and the High Arctic (near the North Pole).
Using water to paint water (ice) allows me to connect to my subject. The luminosity of the medium is its superpower. I’ve certainly heard that watercolors are the “hardest” of mediums but my experience is that I can capture the light and the fragility of these ice monuments in ways that are not possible using oils or acrylics.
Since I was 15, I read about the Heroic Age of Exploration. Of course, Shackleton, Amundsen, and Scott did not have any women on board. And yet, I never doubted that I would be able to go. I have been working on painting these landscapes since 2001 and it has been my privilege to be able to travel as an Expeditionary Artist to so many wild places on our planet and see big ice. I’ve written about my travels to the High Arctic in the New York Times: In Hot Pursuit of Ice and Cold – The New York Times (nytimes.com).
Three years ago, like everyone else, I was stuck in place. How does an artist pivot? I no longer had a large studio to work in and could not really travel anywhere. Flying around the internet were wild animals that crept into spaces normally filled with humans. Some animals were brought to places, others recaptured the territory.
And so my practice split between Animals Taking Over and Polar Landscapes. As humans, while we may make this planet less habitable for some species (including ourselves), the planet and some opportunistic animals will definitely survive. And who knows, perhaps these animals WILL take over our museums and our streets. There are places such as Pyramiden, in Svalbard (where I’ve been) which have been abandoned and left to the elements. Arctic Fox and Polar Bears roam freely in this space – WE are the foreigners.
Having traveled to many places that others haven’t been to, it is my honor to try and bring the images back to the rest of the planet.
I’m heading for an artist residency in Iceland soon and am currently writing grants to get to Greenland. You can see the animal paintings on my Etsy site: https://www.etsy.com/shop/AnimalsTakingOver and read about my travels in my blog: www.lisagorenpaintings.wordpress.com.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
The biggest discipline I am focused on in my profession is the mastery of time. Time is the most valuable currency we have. As am a producer, multi-instrumentalist, and non-profit professiona, l am juggling a variety of tasks and projects that require equal attention to detail, creative vision, and team work. Learning how to juggle all of my ideas and execute accordingly is a work in progress.
My first studio album is in production. This project taps into the consciousness of the lonely/isolated, telling the stories of self-discovery, self-awareness, and transformation. My co-producer, Skitzo, and I wanted to sonically juxtapose synthetic and realistic sounds to support the dualistic themes of man and machine and moving from solitude and servitude. We approached this by creating moments where songs were powerfully supported with instrumentation /vocals, and moments with a minimalistic approach to arrangement and sounds. We blended Jazz with
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