This Is Not a Eulogy (2023)

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This Is Not a Eulogy explores how grief is passed down through generations and how we watch our descendants and ancestors inherit that grief. 

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Movement material was generated through solos inspired by the artwork of the American Regionalist and Social Realist movement. Regionalist works by Edward Hopper, Grant Wood, Andrew Wyeth, and more guided and held this process. The piece is a depiction of the conflicting political nature of the two art movements that existed at the same time in history; Regionalism created an art landscape that promoted the "American dream" while Social Realism depicted the radical political livelihood of working-class Americans in the 1930s, as well as the desolate depth of grief in isolated, rural communities where we have only ourselves to sit with. Through the work, Frances questions how this conflicting imagery can live in tandem with each other in a specific snapshot of American history, specifically one riddled with such enormous loss and grief. 

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Frances received a grant from the Hutton Honors College to perform the solo section of this work at the Future Artists Festival in Chicago, IL.

Frances performed as the soloist in this work.