Francoise McAree is an artist based in Providence, RI. Working with fabric, paper and wax she turns ordinary materials into unexpected objects like fragile gold infused wall hangings, severed body parts and delicate gilded wax paintings. She selects materials for ways they can be transparent, translucent, and porous-- their ability to function as skin. Materials include gauze, typically used for healing wounds, hand-made paper and encaustic (hot wax). The work bears witness to the vulnerability and fragility of the human condition and the physical body. Cropping and fragmentation further the visual impact of her pieces where she explores dualities of beauty/grotesque, fragility/strength, and austere/baroque, recurring themes in her work.

 Born in Montreal, Canada, Francoise has lived and worked in many places, including Paris, France, Tokyo, Japan and NYC, USA. Influences include Christian iconography, psychology, writing and artists Berlinde de Brukeyre, Dahn Vo and Robert Gober.Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally including most recently in The Affordable Art Fair in NYC, an exhibit at Overlap Gallery, Newport, RI and inclusion in the 2025 Larnaca Biennale in Cyprus. She has also had many shows locally and has done residencies at the Vermont Studio Center in Vermont. As an educator, Francoise has taught at Rhode Island College, Rhode Island School of Design/CE, Parsons School of Design, both in Paris and NY. She earned her BA from Middlebury College in Vermont and her MFA from the University of Pennsylvania.