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Young Sudbury artist Francesca Edwards lights up New York Times Square with her art




A young artist’s work is being displayed in New York.

Francesca Edwards, 22, from Sudbury, won a global competition with her abstract artwork, called ‘Light Paintings’.

The artwork is now displayed on exterior of the Nasdaq stock exchange in Times Square, which ran the competition earlier this year.

Francesca Edwards at work in her studio.
Francesca Edwards at work in her studio.

It will then be housed permanently on the sixth floor of the company’s building.

“Nasdaq is the second biggest stock exchange in the world and is showcasing my artwork in its global headquarters and on the Times Square light tower, its website and through its social media channels,” said Francesca.

It was a great moment when I won the competition and now to see it live in Times Square is just crazy.
Francesca Edwards' Light Painting in Times Square. Image: Nasdaq
Francesca Edwards' Light Painting in Times Square. Image: Nasdaq

"They sent me a picture and it looks great.”

Francesca studied art at Loughborough University, where she graduated in 2020, and discovered her passion for modern art.

She is now studying for an MA in curation at the University of Essex.

“The light paintings were inspired by the concept of colour interaction,” she said.

“I first painted the canvas before projecting digital images of the colours.

“These projection paintings explore the dialogue that is created between the painted surface and the colour illuminations when colour changing sequences are projected on top of the canvases.”

Francesca lists her inspirations as Mark Rothko, Olafur Eliasson, Katharina Grosse and the Abstract Expressionism movement. Her uncle, John Edwards, was also a muse for contemporary artist Francis Bacon.

To see more of Francesca’s work, go to Instagram and search for @francescaedwardsfineart

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