Email: francesca.m.reyes@gmail.com

Instagram: @frankchessca

Through the lens of landscape, my work investigates conceptual understandings of habitat while exploring the formal properties of drawing, painting, and ceramics. My most recent ceramic series, Light Diaries, acts as a love note to the city. These clay vignettes are a union of fragile objects and fleeting moments; sunlight kissing the cornice of a rowhouse, the subtle gradient of a morning sky, a window staring at a brick wall. While I move through the world and different stages of my life, I am continuously searching for places of respite. Light Diaries is an amalgam of observations and impressions from my surroundings. There are things that feel familiar, tugging at some tucked away memory, while others seem new and wholly unique. As a ceramicist, I’ve learned to surrender a certain level of control, allowing each clay painting to become an unexpected balance of intention and chance. 

In addition to my work as a studio artist, I am passionate about art education. I received my BFA from Tyler School of Art, Temple University, in 2015. Since graduating, I have worked as an educator at Friends Select School and led various student art projects throughout Philadelphia, including a neighborhood beautification project at NLArts Center, and the Woodmere Art Museum’s summer community project. I am currently a teaching artist with The Clay Studio’s community engagement program, Claymobile. As an educator, I promote art as a vehicle for self-expression, connection, and change. I believe everyone is a maker. In my teaching, I aim to guide students through the process of discovering their own artistic identities.