Dr Cathy Franzi is an artist captivated by the natural world, inspired by its wonder and patterned detail. Her botanical focus is expressed using a distinctive textural approach, adapting aspects of printmaking methods and composition to the ceramic medium. Vessels are wheel-thrown using porcelain and then altered, giving movement to the form from which she responds with surface imagery. In 2015 Franzi was awarded a practice-led PhD in Visual Arts from the Australian National University, in which she investigated scientific and cultural values attributed to plant species, and how Australian flora and environmental knowledge might be expressed in ceramic form and surface. Artist residencies at Fremantle Arts Centre and Vancouver Arts Centre in Albany WA inform her knowledge and deep appreciation of the spectacular diversity of Western Australian plants.