Fragile Structures: The Architecture of Decay
Exhibition | Fragile Structures: The Architecture of Decay
Artist | Fran Romano and Madeline Cardone
Dates | 30 July – 12 September 2026
Opening | Thursday 30 July. Artist Talks at 5:30pm, Opening from 6pm and Official Speeches from 6:30pm | RSVP here
Exhibition Statement
Fragile Structures: The Architecture of Decay is a collaboration between artists Madeline Cardone and Fran Romano. Working in glass and ceramics respectively, the artists share an overlapping conceptual and material language. Both are drawn to the built environment, exploring ruins, decay, voids and architectural phenomenology through the deconstruction and reconstruction of space. Their shared cultural heritage informs their individual practices and provides a foundation for this collaboration.
Through an architectural lens, the exhibition considers how material shapes, divides and transforms space. Presented as a collection of wall mounted, plinth based and floor based sculptures, the works emphasise the tactile and surface qualities of glass and ceramics, creating an immersive environment where structure and void exist in dialogue. Stillness and contemplation underpin both practices, inviting viewers to move through the space with heightened awareness and reflect on the traces of time embedded within the built environment. Rather than simply observing the works, visitors are encouraged to experience an intimate architectural landscape that evokes both shelter and absence, while considering how memory, presence and change shape our relationship with place.
Artist Biographies
Madeline Cardone is a graduate from the Australian National University School of Art and Design. Working primarily in sculpture and glass, her practice explores thresholds between spaces, embodied memory and material transformation, informed by archaeological, anatomical and architectural theory.
She often describes glass as a “skin”, using it to investigate space and bodily memory. Through abstraction and material experimentation, Madeline challenges conventional understandings of glass, inviting slow, tactile contemplation while expanding ideas of what materials can hold, reflect and become.
Madeline has exhibited nationally and internationally. Her accolades include The Bassett Downs Honours Scholarship in Glass (2021), The Vicki Torr Emerging Artist Prize (2022) and The Aldo Bellini Acquisition Award for Milano Vetro Under 35 (2024).
Fran Romano uses ceramics to explore themes of decay, loss, longing and nostalgia. Working intuitively, she builds a sense of history through layered surfaces, incorporating found and handmade objects into mixed media installations informed by her Southern Italian heritage. Her works create spaces for contemplation, exploring interiors as both physical and metaphorical landscapes.
A graduate of the Australian National University School of Art and Design (2013), Fran’s practice is grounded in process driven making. She was highly commended in the ART EDIT Self Represented Artist Award (2023) and has been a finalist in numerous awards, including the North Queensland Ceramic Arts Award (2024), Goulburn Art Award (2022) and Little Things Art Prize (2018). She has also undertaken artist residencies at C.R.E.T.A Rome, Italy (2023) and SkopArt Studios, Skopelos, Greece (2017).
Image | Top Fran Romano Emerge 2023 and Bottom Madeline Cardone Eminence in black 2025 | Photography Top by Andrew Sikorsky + Bottom by Brenton McGeachie
Installation images | Five Foot photography