Mark Francis Time & Chance by Cassie Kinney
From the Mark Francis collection of
pieces, each symbolized time and chance. Almost every artwork had a clock, or
date and year that represented the time spent in prison. One of the pieces that
was profound to me, was the self-portrait that showed himself in a bird cage
like jail cell. The shape of the jail cell like a bird cage could symbolize
feeling like a trapped bird or animal that wants to fly away to freedom. The
key hole in this piece was large in proportion to the cell and it was open,
unlike most of his other pieces where the keyhole was small and barred. This
self-portrait showed him looking out of the cell which was also differentiated
from his other works that featured other imprisoned men looking up in agony,
usually with their mouths expressing pain. In this piece, the figure’s hands are
tied with chains above his head, attached to the cage. Although it shows
Francis as being chained and tied up, the figure is looking directly through
the key hole as a way or a path to freedom. The figure in this self-portrait is
not wearing striped clothing or orange jumpsuit that is characteristic of his
other figures. This could represent the time of his life where he was at the
intersection of time and chance. It represents that moment where he was
shedding his past (clothing), and looking towards the future and new path (the
open key hole.)
The second artwork that had a
profound statement was the baby figure with the cast on its arm. The baby
figure had many cigarette burns on his chest and stomach. This figure
represented an inmate that Francis knew, whose parents burned him with
cigarettes as a child. Francis found that most people in prison, were those
that had a history of physical abuse, and emotional and physical neglect. The
cast on the baby figure read: “MOMMIE IS SORRY BUT YOU MUST LEARN TO LISTEN!!”
This statement written on the cast shows the common rhetoric of the abuser
where they blame the victim.
Overall, Francis’ work expressed
his prison experience as a cruel environment, where people were raped, and
other forms of torture. His artwork reflected the jail cell like a barred
coffin where you go to die or spend the rest of your life in a cramped space.
Some works showed piles of books in people’s cells on religious and spiritual
texts, law, self-help guides, which reflects inmates’ needs to find hope in a
desperate situation. Because much of Francis’ work had representations of time
through the clocks, he may be using the books as symbols of chance that will
transcend him onto a path of knowledge, wisdom, hope, and freedom.
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