Artist Statement
I am a regenerative artist working in collaboration with nature.
My creative process begins with listening. I work with materials that can be returned to the Earth, without any harm to her. I walk, observe, collect, and I listen to my materials instead of trying to control them. I see no separation between my creative practice and my spiritual practice, which for me is about letting go of control. My process is about connecting my inner landscape with the outer landscape.
I don’t see myself separate from nature but rather as two artists working together. Performance is the beginning of my process, often referencing my own body as it relates to nature’s body. Using different mediums, including printmaking, alternative process photography, painting, and sculpture, I am exploring how an initial performance done in the landscape can lead to many different bodies of work.
These works are ephemeral, and I have no attachment to their permanence, as we all come from nature and return to nature. By creating an opportunity for non-logical encounters with my art, I intend to increase the viewers sensibility to the environment. I am interested in what happens to the materials after and beyond their time on display, and how this consideration might help regenerate ecologies.
BIO
Sophie was born in Santa Barbara, California and has lived in the UK for the past 3 years. She received her Bachelor’s degree in photography from Lesley University College of Art and Design. She recently earned her Master’s in Art in Contemporary Photography: Practices and Philosophies at Central Saint Martins. She was awarded the University of The Arts, London Art for the Environment Residency (AER) at Domaine de Boisbuchet, France. Sophie was shortlisted for the University of The Arts, London Maison/0 This Earth Award. Most recent exhibitions include Art for the Environment at GroundWork Gallery, Norfolk, UK, Meant to Fade at Laneway Gallery, Cork, IE, Impermanent at Safehouse Gallery, London and a performance for Dance for the Sky at Slash Arts Gallery Houseboat, London.
CV
EDUCATION
2023 Central Saint Martins, Masters in Art in Contemporary Photography: Practices and Philosophy
2016 Lesley University College of Art and Design, Bachelors of Fine Art in Photography
RESIDENCIES
2024 The Kindred House, Margate, Kent
2023 Domaine de Boisbuchet, Lessac, France
2022 Joya: arte + ecologíca / AiR, Vélez-Blanco, Spain
AWARDS + ACHIEVEMENTS
2023 UAL Art for the Environment Award (AER), Domaine de Boisbuchet, France
2023 Maison/0 The Earth Award shortlist, University of the Arts, London, UK
PERFORMANCES
2023 Dance for the Sky, Slash Arts Gallery Houseboat, London, UK
2023 Slowness, Lethaby Gallery, London, UK
2022 Picture Gallery Helen Frankenthaler, in collaboration Helen Robertson, Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, UK
EXHIBITIONS
2024 Art for the Environment, GroundWork Gallery, Norfolk, UK
2024 DOOZY Magazine, Lore, Bristol, UK
2023 #CreateCOP28, createcophub.com, online
2023 Sophie Anna Gibbings for YOGL, Yoga on the Lane, London, UK
2023 Postgraduate Art, Central Saint Martins, London, UK
2023 Meant to Fade, Laneway Gallery, Cork, IE
2023 Impermanent, Safehouse, London, UK
2023 Greenhouse, Lethaby Gallery, London, UK
2022 Merch, KOPPEL X, London, UK
2022 This Is Not A Party, The Chainstore, London, UK
2021 Sanctuary - From the Garden, For the Garden Grayspace Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
2019 Light, Paper, Process: Alternative Process and Experimental Photography, The Mills Building, San Francisco, CA
2018 Annual Staff, Members & Volunteers Exhibition, Harvey Milk Photo Center, San Francisco, CA
2017 Annual Staff, Members & Volunteers Exhibition, Harvey Milk Photo Center, San Francisco, CA
2017 Nasty Women, Omi Gallery-Impact Hub, Oakland, CA
2017 Sophie Anna Gibbings: Alternative Process Photography, Revolution Cafe, San Francisco, CA
2016 Beyond Beauty (artist books exhibition), Roberts Gallery, Cambridge, MA
2016 Taking In, Laconia Gallery, Boston, MA
2016 Sincerely: BFA Exhibition, Roberts Gallery, Cambridge, MA
2016 Taking In, Roberts Gallery, Cambridge, MA (upcoming)
2016 Undergraduate Photography Now, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA
2016 COLLAB, Gallery South, Cambridge, MA
2016 Photo PopUp, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA
2015 One Night Stand, Carroll and Sons, Boston, MA
2015 Alternative Process, The Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO
2014 RA4, Gallery South, Cambridge, MA
PUBLICATIONS
2024 The February Art Gallery, Journal of Ecology, British Ecological Society
2024 Lore issue two, DOOZY Magazine
2023 perediza issue ii, climate change, art, style and life
2023 Meant to Fade, Katerina Grinkoff
2018 Salts & Metals, analog fine art photography magazine, Jessie Morris
2016 Taking In: Best of LUCAD photography
2014 The Book of Alternative Photographic Process, 3rd edition, Christopher James, “Spring Lamb”, Kallitype
2012 Montecito Magazine, Photographs in Spring Issue
RELATED EXPERIENCE
2024 Guest Curator, Joya: art + ecología, Almeria, Spain
2019-2021 Gallery Assistant, Lost Art Salon, San Francisco, CA
2018-2021 Photography Teacher/ Darkroom Technician, Harvey Milk Photo Center, San Francisco, CA
2018-2021 Associate, Artsource Consulting, San Francisco, CA
2018 Studio Assistant, Hotwire Productions, Lynn Hershan Leeson, San Francisco, CA
2018 Archiving, creating a digital database for private client, San Francisco, CA
2016 Gallery Associate, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA
2015 Teaching Assistant, Kate Greene, Photo Lab 1, Lesley University College of Art and Design, Cambridge, MA
2015 Photography Department Intern, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City, NY
2014 Marketing Intern/ Media Producer, Maine Media Workshops, Rockport, ME
2014 Teaching Assistant, Debbie Fleming Caffery, Documentary Photography, Maine Media Workshops, Rockport, ME