Artist Fran Siegel presents 'Arrábida' at Wilding Cran Gallery, a body of work developed during a Fulbright fellowship in Portugal. The exhibition features multi-panel compositions, cyanotypes, and drawings that investigate the botanical motifs of traditional Portuguese azulejo tiles. By layering organic plant impressions with rigid geometric patterns, Siegel explores how these ceramic surfaces function as a 'visual cartography' that encodes histories of trade, colonial expansion, and cultural identity.
This exhibition highlights the intersection of historical craft and contemporary installation art, coinciding with the launch of Siegel's major public commission for the Los Angeles Metro D Line. The project is significant for its scholarly approach to 'fachada transparente' (transparent facades), using the decorative language of tiles to critique imperial taxonomies and the ways in which the natural world is classified and claimed within urban environments.