Sophie DeFrancesca

About Sophie DeFrancesca

Toronto-based artist, Sophie DeFrancesca (b. 1967, Toronto) graduated from the Ontario College of Art (now OCAD University) in 1990. While working in the commercial art field for over a decade, she developed a body of personal sculptural artwork. In the early 2000's, wire mesh emerged as an important material for DeFrancesca. Sheathes of galvanized steel mesh allowed her to shape human scale forms, rendering hard materials into ethereal concoctions. DeFrancesca's exquisite, stylized gowns play with notions of fashion, elegance, celebrity and a sort of unattainable beauty.  Her playful animal imagery equally asks us to critique certain cultural practices. DeFrancesca has exhibited in group and solo exhibitions in Toronto, Montreal, New York, Miami, at the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies in Banff, and the Sheldon Museum of Art at the University of Nebraska/Lincoln. DeFrancesca's work has captured the attention of collectors around the world.