As a steward of butterflies hailing from Hialeah and Santo Domingo, Franky Cruz “moved into the paradise of curiosity” throughout his work, first as an artist in residence in Everglades (AIRIE) in 2015, and again in 2024 where he worked with Houston Cypress from the Love the Everglades Movement. Reflecting on his return to South Florida after completing a residency at the Home Base Project in Berlin in 2015, Cruz recalls a thirst to learn about its history and the natural environment so easily ignored—so profound that he ventured barefoot into the Everglades with friends to fully immerse himself in its untamed beauty. This is the type of self-led advocacy and reflection that we admire at green religion, since true environmental change starts with us and becomes eco-contagious.
With local grassroots at the heart of his advocacy, Cruz gave a lecture with NaMa Native Landscapes in their Flora of Miami Garden Center on the role of pollinator plants and butterflies as winged collaborators in his work. Akin workshops include the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), the Center for Subtropical Affairs, and the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), Miami. His admiration for the natural world runs deep, beginning with a childhood triumph as Best Bug Collector in 5th grade at Jose Marti Middle School (now Jose Marti MAST 6-12 Academy). Cruz’s artistic practice unfolds in distinct studio cycles: it starts with the cultivation of garden habitats, passes through metamorphosis, and culminates in the transformation of butterfly secretions onto paintings and for large-scale public sculptures and installations. Giving nature credit to nature for its labors promotes a shared green understanding that we can find harmony through our common needs to build resiliency together.
His recent public sculpture in collaboration with Miami-Dade County Art in Public Places, Between Destiny and A Hard Place, began as a three-inch sculpture from a rock and bronze nail that serves as a foundation to hold up a single chrysalis to make a first secretion painting at Spinello Projects in 2020. The 32,768 times enlarged version is now a public sculpture and permanent fixture of the Gallery on the River-Boutique Apartments in Miami at 401 NW N River Dr in Miami.
“The faux stone, covered in living mosses, ferns, and pollinator host plants, represents the resilience of nature and our ability to thrive even in the face of adversity.”
The piece includes an internal irrigation system connected to the building, which is essential for ensuring that the six plants are nurtured and cared for daily. It serves as a poignant reminder to observe nature as a form of self-care, recognizing our place within a larger ecosystem and aligns well with green religion’s aim to cultivate healthy eco-relationships.
Another project, Vivarium Meconium Laboratory, serves as an ongoing ecological and artistic practice that connects and creates pollinator gardens. Cruz raises the larva from egg through its metamorphosis process and collects the umber, ochre, magenta and iridescent secretions of emerging Monarch and Florida native butterflies onto watercolor paper to create a series of paintings. The piece has migrated from Little Haiti to the Miami Beach Botanical Garden and is now in Tulsa Oklahoma representing true eco-spiritual soulfulness!
His paintings reference grids and spirals, carefully arranging each secretion with precision, performing a subtle observation akin to Agnes Martin’s meditative abstractions or the methodical classification of Mark Dion’s field ecology and other scientific methods of collecting, ordering, and exhibiting objects. He’s an artist to pay close attention to as he moves with gratitude throughout each space that he inhabits.
Cruz earned a BFA in Painting from the New World School of the Arts in 2011. His career includes solo exhibitions at Locust Projects, as well as participation in notable group exhibitions such as Monarchs at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in North Miami and the 2020 South Florida Cultural Consortium (SFCC) exhibition at NSU Art Museum, curated by Bonnie Clearwater. His work is held in public and private collections, reflecting growing recognition and demand. Cruz has received prestigious honors, including the South Florida Cultural Consortium Fellowship, the Oolite Arts Ellies Creator Award, and the WaveMaker Grant. He also completed the NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale Research and Development Artist Residency. Stay tuned as he follows the migration path of the monarch to Oklahoma where he will complete the Tulsa Artist Fellowship during the program’s 10-year anniversary for addressing pressing challenges of contemporary artists.
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