Francisca Sottomayor

With a background in visual communication and a lifelong passion for painting, Francisca loves to work at the intersection of design, art and food in multicultural settings. After a year in Rio de Janeiro, working at Duas Águas Studio in close connection with the Brazilian artist Carlito Carvalhosa and the photographer Mari Stockler, she joined the Masters Degree in Editorial Design at the Fine Arts School in Porto. Later, Francisca worked over five years as senior designer at the organic wines and olive oil producer Esporão, where she edited and designed Nativa, the company's beautiful magazine; and where she also deepened her connection with the landscape and interest on different food processes and cooking. In 2020, Francisca was part of the team that gave birth to Germinator, a public sprouting cabinet for the 5th Istanbul Design Biennial, that was later redesigned for the The Secret Life of Plants exhibition at Casa da Cerca, in Lisbon. She continues to develop the sprouting seed terra-cotta project, focusing on themes as community, sustainability and long termism thought, as well as metaphorically talking about hope and new beginnings. Francisca is part of the Designer in Residency programme, supported by Culture Moves Europe, a project funded by the European Union.