An art and education double major from Richmond, Virginia, Sophie joined the Creativity Pathway to connect her classwork and experiences around a common theme.
“I have always considered myself a creative person, and I wanted to learn more about how I can use that skill to motivate me and deepen my learning across all of my courses, planned internships and projects,” she said.
Over her four years, Sophie has completed four internships with artists in Asheville, North Carolina, and Richmond, Virginia, including a printmaking artist who owned her own small business, a ceramist and ceramics teacher at the Visual Arts Center in Richmond, a metal work and found object sculptor and professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, and a sculptor and jewelry designer who was working on a recycled material sculpture installation.
“Through these experiences, I observed artists working in the world and saw what motivated them to continue to create in an environment where making money with your art is near impossible,” she said. “I saw in different ways in each of these experiences how making art is a need for some people. I observed how the act of creating was healing—healing to the environment, healing to yourself, and healing to the community around you.
“I realized that this is what animates me most in my own art-making,” she continued. “Making this connection has greatly influenced my senior art thesis, which centers around healing.”
Sophie, who works primarily in sculpture, including glasswork, woodwork, ceramics, and found objects, is working to create visual representations and abstract art centering around the journey of healing.
“I am drawing allusions to the way nature heals itself and centering the healing of the Earth as an undercurrent in my art through reusing materials and drawing on natural imagery,” she said. “I hope my Symposium audience gains a new appreciation for enjoying art and art making, and I hope they can see how healing and growth can happen through creativity.”
After graduation, Sophie hopes to work as a studio assistant for an established artist while continuing to work on her own art.