Snowed-In: Katerina Lanfranco at Sweet Lorraine

In Dialogue
A person standing in front of a mural

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Katerina Lanfranco is a painter most known for her magical and fantastical colorful paintings. She recently embarked on a new challenge in her solo show Snowed-In, which is one of her most ambitious projects yet, as she let her viewers in on the process.

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AS: How is this solo exhibition different from your previous shows?

KL: Snowed-In is my most ambitious painting project in terms of scale and conceptual depth. At the heart of the exhibition is a monumental 10×13-foot painting that serves as an allegorical exploration of ecological crisis, focusing on glacial melting and Arctic warming. The immersive scale of the painting allows viewers to be enveloped by the narrative, highlighting the interconnectedness of nature and the fragility of human existence on Earth. It also confronts the socio-political conditions and the application of scientific developments that contribute to environmental destruction.

 What sets Snowed-In apart from my previous exhibitions is integrating my studio practice into the gallery experience. While I have worked on large-scale artworks in gallery spaces before—whether murals or cut-Tyvek paper and mixed-media installations—this exhibition is different because it invites viewers to witness the creation of the work and its evolution over time. Making and viewing are blurred, creating a dynamic exchange between the artist, artwork, and audience.

One of the unique aspects of this process is the gallery’s location within a large studio complex in Brooklyn. Many of my colleagues have conversed with me about the painting’s narrative content and technical processes while I was working, engaging with the painting’s real-time development. This level of exposure is new for me as an artist—it’s a vulnerable position to have both my painting and creative process on display before a piece is “resolved.” Unlike most murals, where a composition is predetermined and simply scaled up, I began Snowed-In with only an 8×10” sketch as a starting point, allowing the work to evolve organically.

For example, during the initial chalk pastel drawing on the canvas, I decided to depict the snowed-in building as also being on fire. This decision came in response to the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles that affected my artist friends at the time. The painting has become a “cathartic allegorical narrative” that continues to build as I work, reflecting our contemporary world’s unfolding crises, anxieties, and relationship to nature.

AS: The topic of climate change is very important to you, and as long as I have known your work, it has always appeared in some way, shape, or form. What are you telling your audience with this monumental working painting?

KL: Climate change has been a central theme in my work, manifesting through my exploration of environmental issues—particularly the effects of human activity on the natural world. My paintings often depict nature in flux, using allegory and symbolism to address topics such as glacial melting, rising sea levels, and the fragility of ecosystems.

Last fall, I took a graduate philosophy course titled Climate, Migration, and Critique, which deepened my thinking about art’s role in expressing complex social and environmental issues. At this stage in my career, I feel an increasing responsibility to move beyond simply depicting the beauty of nature. While I believe beauty is essential, I recognize its capacity to lull viewers into comfortable complacency. Instead, I want to use beauty radically—interwoven with more resounding, sometimes unsettling concepts that challenge our perceptions and provoke reflection.

Interestingly, the full conceptual weight of my paintings is often revealed to me only after I’ve had some distance from them. For example, I’ve been working on another large-scale piece featuring a coydog—a hybrid of a coyote and a domestic dog. Only after some reflection did I realize that this half-wild, half-domesticated creature is a near-perfect metaphor for migration. It embodies invitedness and intrusion—qualities deeply tied to broader societal tensions about borders, belonging, and displacement.

Similarly, in Snowed-In, symbols representing environmental crisis, political instability, and scientific exploration are layered within the painting’s imagery. I want the work to function as a visual semiotic system that challenges viewers to see climate change’s hidden structures and consequences rather than just its surface-level aesthetics.

AS: You also curated a group show in the rest of the gallery space. Can you tell me about your vision for that exhibition?

KL: Curating Nature/Nurture while simultaneously working on Snowed-In has been both an exciting and profoundly immersive process. Though distinct in format, these two projects share a common thematic core—examining the intricate relationship between nature, humanity, and ecology.

Curating this exhibition was a way to surround myself with artwork that inspired me as I embarked on this semi-public, large-scale painting process. I selected works from colleagues, students, and fellow artists whose practices explore the tension between nature and culture. The exhibition fosters dialogue, encouraging diverse perspectives on how art can respond to environmental and societal change.

I’ve worked extensively as a curator, so Nature/Nurture feels like an extension of my artistic practice in many ways. There’s a parallel between curating an exhibition and composing a large-scale allegorical painting—both involve organizing ideas, making formal and conceptual connections, and constructing a narrative through visual language.

AS: Once the painting is completed, what is the takeaway from the process? Where do you envision the work next?

KL: The title Snowed-In reflects the imagery within the painting and the conditions under which I created it. I intentionally scheduled this project during winter, when I could devote long, uninterrupted periods to painting. The work became a meditation on isolation, focus, and the overwhelming flood of information and crises that shape our current moment.

After the exhibition, I plan to stretch the painting onto a large wooden support and refine it with oil paint. I envision showing it again in a larger context, alongside my other recent large-scale paintings that explore the liminal spaces between cultivated and wild environments—what I think of as secret gardens with the potential to heal through therapeutic horticulture and expansive wilderness.

AS: What is your biggest inspiration, and where does the imagery for this show come from?

KL: My fascination with the natural world began in childhood and has been a central tenet in my artistic practice ever since. I was drawn to nature’s intricate forms, patterns, and colors, spending hours outdoors making my own natural history and botanical drawings. As a teenager, I became captivated by the fractal patterns explored in Chaos Theory and their echoes in organic structures such as smoke and water ripples. This curiosity of the natural world led me to work in the entomology department of a natural history museum, where I spent time sorting silk moths. This experience deepened my appreciation for the diversity of species and scientific framing of the natural world.

When I first moved to New York City, I was mesmerized by the Hudson River School painters—their ability to capture the transcendental awe and sublime spirituality of nature resonated deeply with me and aesthetic and philosophical sensibilities. Beyond nature’s beauty, I’ve long been fascinated by how it is interpreted, manipulated, and symbolized within human culture. My work is often a dialogue between these two perspectives: nature as it exists and nature as it is perceived, shaped, and impacted by human intervention.

For Snowed-In, I was particularly drawn to the pervasive and often invisible ways human activity affects the environment. The phrase “snowed in” takes on multiple meanings for me—not just as a literal depiction of winter landscapes but also as a metaphor for feeling overwhelmed by the relentless stream of socio-political and ecological. The painting incorporates imagery such as migratory Arctic birds, melting ice, and the molecular structures of substances like fentanyl and mercury—representing the unseen yet omnipresent forces altering our world. Interestingly, it wasn’t until later in the process that I realized *Snowed-In* could also be read as a homonym for (Edward) Snowden. My intuition often leads the way in my work, with subconscious connections emerging before my conscious mind fully grasps them.

At its core, this painting is about making the invisible visible. By layering natural and scientific elements with allegory and narrative, I aim to create a work that both invites and unsettles—one that invites viewers to engage more deeply with the urgent realities of our time.

Gallery closing reception: Thursday, January 30th – 6-8:30 PM
183 Lorraine St. 3FL, Brooklyn, NY, 11231 (Red Hood/Gowanus neighborhood)
Featuring live musical performance by artist and musician Damien Olsen