Ke Francis

Burial of Red Clay Poet I

Ke Francis is a narrative artist who has been actively producing artwork for more than fifty years. Francis works with themes and subjects familiar to him. He has traveled around the world and recorded images and stories from his trips as raw material for his work. However, much of his work reflects the environment and culture of the Southeastern United States, where he has spent most of his life. Francis employs every tool available to explore both true and implied narrative. “Implied narrative is a conversation between the actual components of the [piece],” says Francis, “Shapes, colors, and lines have a conversation and while the viewer cannot hear the conversation they can view the interaction.” In his artwork, Francis evokes the tragic effects of disaster while simultaneously celebrating the resiliency of the human spirit. He does so through imagery that bears the marks of its creation. The elements in his work coalesce and act as a stage for individual human will and determination. Francis expresses his creativity through various media, including printmaking, painting, sculpture, bookbinding and printing, and writing short stories and poetry. He views his diverse range of skills as simply tools to explore a narrative. His book works, paintings, prints, photographs, and sculptures are in over thirty major public and private international collections, including The Getty Museum, National Gallery, National Museum of American Art, New Orleans Museum of Fine Art, San Francisco Museum of Contemporary Art, among many others. He and his wife, Mary, are co-owners of Hoopsnake Press, a fine-art press that publishes artist books and prints