A Narrative of Emotions: the work of New Orleans artist Frahncesca Koerner
What is it to grow up in a city that is surrounded by water, below sea level, and constantly occupied in the sacred practice of celebration and costuming? People who visit must wonder if some enchanted arcanum exists, explaining the behavior of the natives and the live city that grows within and around them. New Orleans is like a painstakingly beaded Mardi Gras Indian costume that tells a love story, shot with bright color and unforgettable symbols. It has a different effect on everyone who comes in contact with it, but the artists that were raised here have absorbed unique imagery and color combinations from the wild creative atmosphere, and many have a way of perceiving the moods and emotions that run through the South Louisiana culture like a fierce undercurrent.
New Orleans native artist Frahn Koerner says that growing up on the Gulf Coast has deeply influenced her work; vibrant colors from the semi-tropical environment and rhythmic patterns inspired by those in nature have always drawn her. In addition to an ongoing interest in spiritual imagery, symbols such as boats, horses, and the human form are common in her work.
“I grew up here, and boats always meant faith to me,” Frahn Koerner says. “When I was younger, and there was the threat of a hurricane, my father would always park his boat on a trailer outside of the house. In case the water rose, we’d get out on the boat, but thankfully we never had to.” Koerner’s work often deals with imagery of boats and seascapes, and after Katrina, their symbolism was amplified to those affected by the storm.
“Originally I did portraits, and a lot of figure painting, but I realized that there was something more that I wanted to express, a certain vibe that couldn’t be communicated through that process that I now try to get across in all of my shows. I moved on to abstract work. I’ve been influenced by the pattern and decorative movement, and by artists like Ross Bleckner. I also became interested in Sacred Geometry and Buddhist philosophy.” Though Koerner’s vision was expanding, she says she still felt hampered by using only paint, and she began to experiment with other mediums.
“Before the storm, I decided to go down to the place where the Mardi Gras Indians shop to get supplies for their costumes, and I got a bunch of fun new elements, like beads, sequins, and glitter. When we evacuated for Katrina, I spent some time out in Santa Fe, and that’s where I really got away from painting so much. I began to create paintings, compositions, with fabric, fur, beads, and reflective objects,” she says.
The pieces with reflective elements, such as symbols stitched out in bright sequined silhouettes on a surface of dark fur fabric, allow the viewer to notice different things as they walk past. The reflective elements give the pieces depth and texture that paint stops short of. Koerner also experimented with including glitter in oil paintings, which achieved a similar effect, adding brilliance and dimension without being too flashy or calling too much attention to the mediums themselves.
“I remember I went to this little church in Santa Fe after I evacuated from the storm, and I was kind of shell-shocked. I saw the little Milagros in the church, which are tokens from people whose prayers came true. They fashion them in the shape of whatever it was they prayed for, and often you’ll see things like little tin hearts nailed to wooden backs,” she recalls. “I decided to make my own. I wanted to express my gratitude that noone I close to me got hurt, physically, in the storm.”
Koerner began to use the elements from the mardi gras bead shops and other things from local craft stores. Boats reemerged as symbol in her work that reverberated with meaning. She describes one piece that she did, a boat symbol made of little white alphabet beads that spell out different words, like “lost.” These beads are sewed onto a black fur fabric that was put over a canvas frame. “I called this one ‘No Ax Comfort Boat,’” she says. The title speaks for itself.
When Koerner returned to New Orleans, she missed working with other artists as she had done in Santa Fe. “We had so much fun--we’d all pile in my car and go on artist field trips,” she reminisces, smiling. “So, I decided to find people to work with here.” She met Elizabeth Underwood, who was going out and doing art in places ravished by the storm, and was inspired by her to do the same. Koerner called up two other friends with whom she went to graduate school at UNO: Anastasia Pelias and Rian Kerrane. “I remembered that Rian was the original paper boat lady; she was making them in grad school and did an installation with a bunch of paper boats later on. And Stacy, one of my close friends, agreed to help me when she heard that I wanted to make tons of paper boats to fill a house.”
The women found a hurricane ravished house that was the original parsonage for a church across the street from it on Forstall Street in New Orleans. After clearing the idea with the church, they set to work making hundreds of small paper boats to fill the house, and ad-libbing it with whatever else came along. “Stacy had the idea of putting a handmade decorative crown on top of the house; this crown has dual symbolism. It honors the church’s purposeful benevolence, and it is also intended to question the responsibility of a city who caters to the tourism industry of New Orleans while continuously neglecting its own people,” she says. From a culture that has a tradition of costuming and celebration, even especially in the midst of chaos, this note rings true on many levels.
“The house collaborated with us too,” she says. An old mirror found in the back now acts as a focal point at the end of the shotgun. Old boards found on the site extend as a walkway, bringing visitors to the middle of the house and then abruptly halting, their reflections wavering in the dusty old mirror as they are surrounded by a sea of paper boats flowing around them and the elements of the house, swirling in eddies and whirlpools. Playing in the background is a cd of the ambient sounds recorded in Grecian caves. Cut-out paintings of pomegranates, symbols of rebirth and regeneration, hang from the ceiling. “You stop in the middle of the house and can go no further. This is intended to ask the question, ‘Where do we go from here?’” Koerner says.
“I felt like the neighbors appreciated what we were doing, and watched on in an amused, curious way. Someone threw a handful of pennies in the yard, which is supposed to be really good luck, and another person stole the cd and a small eddy of boats, which I guess is a compliment,” she laughs.
“Working on this piece was really great,” Koerner explains, “because we brought attention to the neighborhood. It was great working with my friends, and having the neighbors stop by and comment on our progress. It was really dirty work, but it was fun, and it got me out of my studio and into the community, making a difference.”
To read more about this house turned art called the Apostolic project, please go to www.artinaction-nola.blogspot for more information. To find out more about Frahn Koerner, go to her website at www.fkoerner.com. She was just awarded a studio at Artworks for one year where she will be working with 19 other artists. She will also be a part of a group show through Andy Antippas of Barrister’s Gallery, called the St. Claude Collective, on Oct. 31, 2008. She also enjoys a gratifying part time job at the well-known and loved uptown New Orleans hotspot, the Maple Street Bookshop. ✦
