In his artistic practice, Franky primarily deals with forms and means of presentation. Investigating the structural and formal backgrounds of object (re)presentation in religious and secular contexts is central to his practice. Franky is mostly interested in backdrops that function as carriers of relics / objects / artefacts. These carriers play a specific role in presenting the object at hand. Further, he tries to detect the overlapping between literal carriers of objects (plinths, pedestals, etc.) and figurative ones (Canvas, any two-dimensional media). 

In his book “The Weird and the Eerie”, Mark Fisher refers to artefacts from science fiction novels as inorganic artefacts; objects whose purpose and meaning remain unclear. At the same time however, they derive their potential from this lack of clarity. It is significant to point out that these objects are subject to some kind of parasitic existence; They dwell in a dormant state, their true purpose having yet to be discovered. This relation between object and context is central to Franky Daubenfeld’s research. So one personal point of interest is the object in painting as a fetish and a parasitic entity.

How do painted elements relate to each other on the picture plane? How do they manifest their object status in relation to their surrounding? To what extent does iconographic analyzation in painting hold up today, and in which ways could traditional reading modes be actualized to meet contemporary production?

In addition, the artist currently explores similar topics related to folklore crafts. He started using and carving wooden branches as a way to connect the canvas to a sculptural element that reaches back into the space at hand, putting the artistic object in an in-between state, somewhere between sculpture and flat painting surface. The origins and meanings of objects, where they are to be found, the interplay between themselves and their surroundings are topics which are continuously explored in Franky’s works. 

This seeming ambivalence of non-abstract, yet unfathomable forms is a central axis in his artistic research. In his paintings he explores the relationships between the location, the substructure / carrier, and the presented object. Furthermore, he consciously employs motifs that will remain in a state of unclarity, obscurity, in regard to their origin and backstory. Although the object itself is not abstract in the traditional sense, its inherent vagueness pushes it into iconographic abstraction. 

“Pulp-horror, archaic science fiction and the darker aspects of folklore share a preoccupation with exhumation of or confrontation with ancient super-weapons categorised as Inorganic Demons or xenolithic artifacts. These relics or artifacts are generally depicted in the shape of objects made of inorganic materials (stone, metal, bones, souls, ashes, etc.). Autonomous, sentient and independent of human will, their existence is characterised by their forsaken status, their immemorial slumber and their provocatively exquisite forms. [...] Inorganic demons are parasitic by nature, they [...] generate their effects out of the human host, whether as an individual, an ethnicity, a society or an entire civilisation. “ 

— Reza Negarestani, Cyclonopedia: Complicity with Anonymous Materials. 

Considering exhibitions, it personally seems liberating to look at individual image carriers as building blocks rather than self-contained finished works. A big part of the work will take place after the painting process. The choreography of the works depends on their assigned placement in an exhibition space. It is crucial to Franky’s artistic practice to allow all kinds of dialogues and interplays between the works. His paintings could perhaps be compared to actors that, if a role fits them, will play their part on the stage. 

Michel Majerus, Matt Mullican, Alicja Kwade, Emmanuelle Lainé and Philip Guston are currently the artist’s biggest influences.