Dennene Francis

My name is dee and I am the 32 year old daughter of a strong and proud Jamaican woman. I am a neuro-divergent community activist and outside-of-the-box type of pal. If I could define myself and my work for you I would: but in truth I recognize I am merely experiencing myself alongside you while struggling to see myself. I am tears on the t-shirts of my loved ones and worn in couch cushions that groan under the weight of sadness and probably 80% raindrop – just recycled water appearing in a new form. My lore, my origin story, all that I ever was, has been scribbled, inky and smeared, between pages still waiting to be stumbled upon. I am an artistic adventurer who refuses to be defined by any one path; I live to do what I love – not what others think I’m good at.

I have been filling journals since I was a young child just writing to exist, to escape, to find, to grow and to help ease into myself. All of my work is an ode to the many gorgeous, and deeply wounded beings who had to happily thrive and barely brutally survive so that I could one day breathe and then bawl. My work reflects a deep connection to my gnawing grief, my well-nursed longing, and the weighted struggle towards acceptance. It is inspired by the idea of ‘golden joinery’ which consists of uncovering what was once there by reviving and recreating what was broken into unique beauty. That is the essence of my life’s work as an artist and a human; this is my lament for all of my fellow broken people on their journey towards cherishing the cracks we all have.