Artist Statement

The Light Within is a series of silver gelatin photograms with gold leaf highlights. With a few exceptions, the subjects are handmade, antique textiles, including collars, gowns, doilies and remnants. The textiles themselves are all handmade works of art. I’m struck by the beauty of these items and amazed that someone made them by hand, especially the simple doll’s dress, that was likely made by a child. The light within those individuals allowed them to create such beauty. I can feel that radiant energy when I’m handling the items in the darkroom. The moth and rabbit, representing all creatures, carry that same light with them.

When I’m working in the darkroom, the ideas in my head and heart are always so clear to me. I embrace the challenge of translating those ideas into images with my photograms. The tricky part comes when I try to articulate those thoughts as words. While working on this series, I stumbled upon a quote by Maya Angelou that says precisely what’s been in my head while creating this body of work. She said, “Let nothing dim the light that shines from within”. Every being on this earth has a unique radiance that can’t be extinguished by outside forces. This light represents the goodness in each of us; our inner strength, creativity, kindness, courage and more. We should embrace that light and let it shine brightly.

About Frances Jane Wilgis

Hi, I’m Frances Jane Wilgis and I’m 9 years old. I live in Hampstead, NC, with my parents and 7 pets; 6 chickens and a dog. My favorite color is pink. My favorite animal is the tiger. My favorite food is french-fries.

The inspiration for my cat photograms is a stray cat at camp Kirkwood summer camp. The inspiration for my other pictures is dreams and the night sky. The inspiration for my feather picture is a feather falling to the ground.

Here’s a few things about the cat. She loves butterflies. Her name is Coreo. She’s black and white.