Frances Jane (they/she) is a visual artist who lives and works in Iowa City, IA. Born and raised just outside Milwaukee, WI, she felt bound to the routine and monotony of suburban life. Drawing the houses and buildings she passed by daily was a way to reinterpret the built environment. Her art practice became one of mindfulness and acceptance; art not as an escape, but a way into her environment. She currently takes commissions for house portraits.

Working primarily with pen and ink, her drawings are detailed, highly contrasted, often playing with light and shadow to create scenes that are solitary and expressive. A self-taught artist, her creative process is built upon the idea of embracing limitations in materials, instruction, and subjects. Seeing ink as a binary medium, her linework simultaneously reveals trust and mistrust; each mark must have an individual impact, while her lines remain slow, cautious, and purposeful. This tension in her use of ink reflects her relationship to art making and living.

Frances is currently pursing an MFA in Book Arts at the University of Iowa’s Center for the Book. Her work has been published in december, Vagabond City, and exhibited in The Flow Project and a solo show Rove, Record, Unravel.