The themes I explore in my work are natural cycles; birth and death, seasonal change, dawn and twilight. I am also informed by mythical, religious and spiritual symbols. My work evokes a sense of spaciousness, calm, chaos and mystery– and reflects the process of untangling how I am affected by the presence of the great beauty and sorrow that exists on this planet.

 

The content of my work exists on the axis of grief, loss, and death, and revolves around what we can learn from them. By holding a lens to the intricacies of what happens to our bodies, minds, and spirits when we encounter these realities, I attempt to open a doorway to experience life in a more fully realized way.

 

Utilizing a combination of representational and abstracted forms, I am interested in drawing attention to the interplay between what is and what we perceive. The often straightforward quality of linework and form reflects a documentation, which in combination with the ambiguity of the subject, creates a potentially unsettling tension.

 

The medium of printmaking presents an opportunity to explore these concepts physically. A print is not strictly an original, it is an imprint of a matrix that is no longer there. A print is what is left behind, the impact of a process, which leaves an impression on the world. Since the process of printmaking is one based principally on the concept of loss, it presents unique and sometimes subtle ways to interact with it.

 

References to the natural world, both in form and medium, weave their way through the conceptual and material body of the work. The materiality of the work plays an important part in its function. By collecting pigments from varying natural sources such as minerals, shells, oxides, plants, and bone, I immerse the work in the world. The contrast and connection between earth and spirit becomes evident. Mineral, plant and animal, the triangle on which life is hinged, bound by water. Nothing created, nothing destroyed. Formed and reformed of the same materials- transforming each other, transforming into one another.

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Sophia was born and raised on a ranch in Sonoma County, California, where her family raised sheep for fiber and meat. The artist studied printmaking at California College of the arts from 2015-2017. Sophia works in a variety of media including fiber, painting, lithography, screenprinting, etching, relief printing, xerography, drawing, book arts, wood, metal, ceramics, sound and installation. She works and lives in Marshall, CA.

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CV

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Hamaguchi Printmaking Award Scholarship 2016.

 

Hamaguchi Printmaking Award Scholarship 2017.

 

KALA Art Institute, Artist in Residence 2019

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The Yellow Show, Group show curated by Lucia Aguilar and Maya Djidji, Adobe Books, San Francisco, CA, 2023

 

KALA Art Institute, Artist in Residence 2024.