This month we are delighted to introduce Devon Artist Network member – Sophie Wake. Working from her studio in Rattery, Devon, Sophie’s fine art practice responds to the rhythms of meditation and tea ceremony which has become a fundamental companion to her creative approach. Painting with oil on canvas or gouache on paper, her work tends to be instinctive and intuitive, each piece a process of self enquiry. She likes to work swiftly keeping the energy fresh and live. Works are suffused with her spiritual practice, imbuing a liminal quality and a sense of in-betweenness with recurring primordial themes. Influences of shamanism, rock art, ancient clay models and pottery are channeled throughout the collections, which celebrate the power of basic human emotion in simple and authentic forms.
In 2017 Sophie took part in Brighton’s ‘Artists Open Houses’, and was shortlisted for 3 Artists Open House Awards, winning Best Newcomer.
In 2018 her painting HERD featured in the Royal Academy’s 250th Summer Exhibition, and in 2019 she won the Best Artists Open House award
Sophie has recently collaborated with a Ukrainian fashion label, My Sleeping Gypsy, creating the MIGRATION collection of traditional vyshyvanka dresses, and also worked with Shepard Fairey on a collection of works, FOR THE BIRDS to raise money for the Audubon Society.
You can see Sophie’s work in an exhibition that considers the impact of living with dementia in aid of Alzheimers Research UK, at the Create Centre gallery, Spike Island, Bristol, 22 – 26th July, 10am – 5pm. It is a subject close to her heart having cared for her mother with Alzheimer’s disease during lockdown.
Sophie describes spending time with her mother painting and singing at her kitchen table as her condition declined, which was challenging but also both healing and creative.
