Fanni Somogyi

Work samples

euphoric glitch

Steel, polyurethane, faux flowers, silicone, acrylic paint, 12” x 14” x 4”
Day-dreaming for Another World

Each critter is ~ 13” x 12” x 15”. This installation was created for and installed in Morgantown, NC for a Main Street revitalization project in a storefront. Gourds change, grow together and teeter through an eerie landscape. These casted vegetables are combined with carved steel and apoxie clay legs, and some of their interiors are growing beyond their bodies. In the background the female form is becoming something ethereal as a new part of nature; her face is slowly overtaken by bursts of colorful blooms. I dream of a world where the connection of bodies to land is more tangible.
tree tentacles feeling in space. can you hear them talking?

Temporary public sculpture located at the Franconia Sculpture Park in Shafer, MN between 2019 and 2022. 10' x 11' x 14'

About Fanni

Baltimore County

Fanni Somogyi is a multi-disciplinary artist and writer living and working between Baltimore, MD. She completed her BFA at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Interdisciplinary Sculpture and Creative Writing. Somogyi’s work explores organic and inorganic networks, metamorphosis and how humans relate to nature and non-human beings. Her work has been shown at the Maryland Art Place in Baltimore, MD, Vox Populi in Philadelphia, PA, New Collectors Gallery in New York City, NY, Frederick… more

View Fanni 's Resume

Cross Species Connections

Using figurative imagery of insects and plant elements, I imagine narratives of different futures and worlds. These hybrid critters have transformed and some are mid-metamorphosis. Cross-contamination is crucial in these sculpture’s reality, where different creatures are affecting and transforming one another. In my biomorphic assemblages I combine steel and aluminum with casted polyurethane elements and plants, such as cactuses, mosses, and micro greens. Primarily, I investigate interspecies connections and interrelationships to understand how I affect non-human beings and the ecosystem, and my embedded connection within the lived environment.

I’m fascinated by entities such as slime mold and cyborgs since these collaged bodies act as speculative thought exercises. Through empathetic observation we can learn sustainable ways of being from these creatures. This idea of interrelationships grew out of my fascination with, and research into astrobiology, ecology, and science fiction, such as the documentary, “Alien Worlds”, and Octavia Butler’s novel, “Lilith's Brood.”

Sculpture has been the format of my choice because I enjoy building in three dimensions and incorporating multiple materials and textures. I have been working as a welder at a fabrication shop, and I have become increasingly obsessed with a high level of finish that is possible with patience, technique, and care. I’m drawn to metals due to their relation to industry and technology, and their oxymoronic ability to be simultaneously durable and malleable. There is a contrasting duality of technology and nature as our ways of existence are increasingly encroaching on the habitats of other creatures through pollution, urbanization, and over consumption.

Circe

2022 Steel, soil, cactus 13” x 11” x 10” I’m interested in how we can be vessels for other beings, some beneficial and some harmful. Bacteria preside on our skin and live in our bodies. The pandemic has also demonstrated that the boundaries of our bodies are more permeable than we think.
cross species connections

2021 Bronze, steel, flocking 13” x 14” x 21”
cross pollinations

2021 Steel, laser cut acrylic, adhesive 12” x 14” x 23” This sculpture explores species interactions, connections, and transformations. I’m drawn to elevating the status of small creatures such as beetles, whose environmental importance can be overlooked, while also creating hypothetical future beings and scenarios. The laser etched and cut plexiglass pieces are drawn representations of microscopic pollen particles, from Birch, Magnolia, common angiosperm trees, and passion flowers, that this hypothetical bug would pollinate.
euphoric glitch

2021 Steel, polyurethane, faux flowers, silicone, acrylic paint 12” x 14” x 4” Appearing alien in its nature, this wall-mounted sculpture is meant to invoke a sense of wonder and curiosity. As the viewer suspends their disbelief, thoughts of metamorphosis, change, and nature can enter their minds. The casted gourd elements appear fleshy and reminiscent of the body, and the soft pinks allude to the bodies interiors that are carried on the outside of this speculative insect. I aim to elaborate on the nuances of our relationships with other beings, and the importance of transformation.
Janus

2021 Powder coated steel, soil cactus 13” x 12” x 8” Steel contrasts with the more organic bulbous cactus. This juxtaposition is crucial in thinking about possible sustainable futures, and the interaction of different entities. Since the materials of industry, such as metals and plastics, are not going to completely and immediately change or disappear, finding ways in which these can coexist and be reused within our ecosystem, without obliterating it, is necessary.
molting from within

2022 Steel, paint, walnut, steel slag, astroturf 12” x 8” x 14”
Ruptured

2022 Steel, foam, flocking fiber, faux flowers, acrylic paint, silicone 5” x 10” x 8”

Day-dreaming for Another World

In this installation called “Day-Dreaming for Another World” gourds change, grow together, and become one. These casted vegetables are combined with carved steel and apoxie clay legs, and some of their interiors are growing beyond their bodies. The female form, central to the scene, is becoming something ethereal as a new part of nature. I dream of a world where the connection of bodies to land is more tangible. Cross-contamination is crucial in this reality, where different creatures are affecting and transforming one another. These eerie and uncanny assemblages provide paths for the viewer to travel beyond the work into hypothetical and imagined landscapes.