A Conversation with Francesca DiMattio and Caroline Coon

From Left to Right: Francesca DiMattio, Nike Air Ming, 2025. Glaze on porcelain, glaze on stoneware pedestal, Sculpture: 73.7 x 43.2 x 30.5cm (29 x 17 x 12in), Pedestal: 88.9 x 33 x 33cm (35 x 13 x 13in). Copyright Francesca DiMattio. Courtesy the artist and Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York and Pippy Houldsworth, London. Photo by Karen Pearson, Caroline Coon, Orchids in a Glass Vase, 2010. Oil on canvas, 61 x 61cm (24 x 24in) Framed: 64.5 x 64.5cm (25 3/8 x 25 3/8in). Copyright Caroline Coon. Courtesy the artist and Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York. Photo by Todd- White Art Photography.

As part of Snapdragons, the dynamic two-person exhibition currently on view at Stephen Friedman Gallery, New York, artists Francesca DiMattio and Caroline Coon sat down with Arte Realizzata to discuss the themes driving their latest bodies of work. Both artists reimagine historical forms through a feminist lens—DiMattio’s intricately layered porcelain sculptures fuse the domestic with the monumental, while Coon’s paintings reclaim the reclining nude and still-life traditions with bold, subversive energy. In this conversation with writer Sandro De Miera, they reflect on materiality, representation, and the balance of humor and provocation in their practices.

Francesca DiMattio, Chiquita Caryatid, 2025. Glaze on porcelain and stoneware, 218.4 x 77.5 x 77.5cm (86 x 30 1/2 x 30 1/2in). Copyright Francesca DiMattio. Courtesy the artist and Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York and Pippy Houldsworth, London. Photo by Karen Pearson.

Sandro: Francesca, your sculptures merge the ornate beauty of porcelain with mass-produced, utilitarian objects like sneakers and detergent bottles. How do these juxtapositions challenge our understanding of value, beauty, and art versus craft?

Francesca: Yes, by combining these unlikely pairings I hope to bring up questions of beauty, value and how we think of the feminine.  At first glance there is a kind of absurdity but upon connecting them formally they become, in fact, very connected.  The white plastic of a tide bottle relates to the whiteness of porcelain and a Nike sneaker as a holder and something that is greatly valued in contemporary culture connects to a vase form which is also a holder and also revered in its time.  By connecting them, garbage becomes honored, and floral vignettes dismissed as feminine seem to take on a different emboldened attitude.  

Sandro: The Caryatid figures in this exhibition evoke both classical and contemporary archetypes of femininity. How do you see these works engaging with or subverting traditional notions of the female form in art history?

Francesca: I want these figures to unapologetically honor and acknowledge domestic labour, motherhood and feminine power. They are made out of many elements usually dismissed for being decorative, pretty or sweet.  These references are usually seen in acts of service.  Plates, vases, diaper boxes, spray bottles, detergent containers, beads, and bejeweled jewels are all here to serve. I am looking for ways to imbue ornament (beaded and bejeweled surfaces), domestic garbage (Pampers and Chiquita cardboard boxes) and porcelain floral motifs pulled from historical tableware with new intention, power and strength. 

Sandro: By incorporating recognizable commercial imagery, such as the Chiquita banana logo and Tide bottles, your work bridges the domestic and monumental. What is your process for deciding which everyday objects to integrate, and how do they inform the larger narrative of your sculptures?

Francesca: I often choose things from my surroundings.  My favorite thing about living in NYC these days is the fruit stand on my corner.  I got the Chiquita banana box reference from there.  Seeing it day after day I got excited about connecting it to the history of blue and white porcelain.  One of the things I love about porcelain is its instability.  It is at once a revered Ming dyn vase at the Met or utter schlock found at a thrift store.  Connecting it to garbage itself takes that point one step further and having these references in conversation with one another upends our fixed ideas of things. With two small kids I’ve had a lot of Pampers boxes around the last few years.  Looking at the turquoise, pink and yellow colors, I connected it to a Sevres dish pattern with floral vignettes.

Sandro: Many of your pieces seem to carry an undercurrent of tension, such as fragile porcelain forms that appear to collapse under their own weight. How do you approach this delicate balance between strength and fragility?

Francesca: Clay has always been a genre in the pursuit of perfection and I like to play with that bit. Every piece alternates between perfection and destruction.  I carefully build classical vase forms only to rip, cut and bend them only to then carefully paint a floral bouquet atop that torn edge.  I try to shift how we see porcelain, from something delicate to something tough,  to in turn shift how we view the feminine 

Caroline Coon, Snapdragons , 1991. Oil on canvas, 91 x 91cm (35 7/8 x 35 7/8in) Framed: 95.8 x 95.8cm (37 3/4 x 37 3/4in). Copyright Caroline Coon. Courtesy the artist and Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York. Photo by Todd- White Art Photography

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Sandro: Caroline, your work often reclaims and recontextualizes classical art tropes, such as the reclining nude or the self-portrait, from a feminist perspective. What do you hope audiences in New York take away from your reinterpretations of these historical forms?

Caroline: Mostly, I’d like a New York audience to see the reclining nudes in my paintings as a timeless appreciation of the beauty and wonder of our bodies. Of course, to challenge the idea that the female nude is only worthy of delectation by a male audience, I hope that women can appreciate female nakedness, too. And, to redress a sexist bias, I like to paint reclining male nudes for the enjoyment of both women and men. To me it is important, after an initial aesthetic judgement, for an audience to know that it is a woman with a libido who made these paintings.

Sandro: The flowers in your still-life paintings are bold, sensual, and theatrical, echoing themes of gender fluidity and nonconformity. How do you see the act of painting flowers as a form of rebellion against traditional femininity?

Caroline: Well, for a long time I resisted painting flowers precisely because when I was a teenager they were disparaged and stereotyped as a subject suitable for amateur ‘lady’ painters. As I learned to see and think for myself, I realised that great women artists have painted flowers and that negative judgements about this were sexist, if not misogynist. Read what critics in the 1940s said of Georgia O’Keeffe’s flower paintings before feminist scholars enabled the world to see her work without bias! Flower forms can evoke female body parts but, like the great lesbian artist Gluck, I like to suggest male virility, too. In nature, flowers are remarkably gender fluid!

Sandro: Your Brothel series draws from your autobiography and advocacy for sex workers’ rights. How does your personal history and activism shape your artistic voice, and how does that translate into the works on view in Snapdragons?

Caroline: While it may be possible for an artist to resist allowing their personal history to shape the style and subject of their art, I chose to use my subjective experiences – what I know and see - to make objective narrative paintings of life in general.  In many ways my life is not unique - my experiences are shared by so many who are silenced. Perhaps my ‘upper class’ origins and ‘whiteness’ have protected me and enabled me to shine a light on aspects of everyday life that are usually not mentioned in ‘polite’ society? For instance, sex work. The paintings in ‘Snapdragons’ at Stephen Friedman Gallery are informed by my intention to allude to the experiences of us all, and especially Every Woman.

Sandro: In works like Self-Portrait: In My Cock Hat and Cunt, you confront patriarchal narratives head-on. How do you balance humor and provocation in these pieces to create moments of liberation and self-expression?

Caroline: Yes, a balance is necessary! I play with patriarchal narratives - I like to stand patriarchy on its head - on my head! But, to my dismay, I realised that the more seriously passionate I was about an issue, the funnier it became! I have learned to embrace this Paradox of Seriousness in my art. It is liberating to be able to laugh in the face of adversity. I think the sculptures of Francesca DiMattio allude to this attitude to life, too!

Portrait of Francesca DiMattio, 2025. Photo by Karen Pearson

Francesca DiMattio (b. 1981) is known for her dynamic approach to sculpture and painting, where she collapses boundaries between historical and contemporary influences. Her work weaves together an eclectic mix of references—ranging from English Rococo and Islamic Fritware to mass-produced kitsch and domestic patterns—blurring distinctions between high and low culture. In her sculptural practice, she transforms porcelain into unpredictable, fluid constructions, subverting the tradition of ceramics with an explosive sense of movement. Similarly, her paintings layer diverse visual languages, creating compositions that feel both intricate and unruly. DiMattio’s work has been exhibited internationally, and her sculptures are included in prominent public and private collections.

DiMattio has exhibited at Wellin Museum of Art (2022) and Art Omi, Ghent in New York (2019).

Portrait of Caroline Coon, 2024. Photo by John O'Rourke.

Caroline Coon (b. 1945) is a British painter whose vibrant figurative works challenge societal norms and patriarchal values. Deeply influenced by feminism and the politics of sexual liberation, her paintings reject binary notions of gender while celebrating subjects ranging from sex workers and intersex individuals to cityscapes and still lives. A pioneering figure in London’s counterculture, Coon has been a vocal advocate for women’s rights since the 1960s, co-founding the legal-aid organization Release and managing The Clash during the punk movement. Her distinctive style—characterized by crisp-edged lines and saturated color—draws inspiration from artists like Paul Cadmus and Tamara de Lempicka. Coon’s work has recently gained widespread institutional recognition, with pieces entering Tate’s permanent collection and featuring in major exhibitions, including Women in Revolt! touring the UK from Tate Britain.

This is Coon’s first significant exhibition in New York and coincides with her inclusion in the group show ‘Women in Revolt!’, touring the UK from Tate Britain, London. 

For more information about their joint exhibition, please visit Stephen Friedman’s gallery site here. For more information about Caroline’s artwork, please visit her site here. In addition, information about Francesca DiMattio can be found here. The magazine did a feature on the exhibition, which can be found here.