This project was awarded the Landon Mackenzie Graduation Award for Visual Arts, and received an Honourable Mention for the John C. Kerr Chancellor Emeritus Award for Excellence in Visual Arts
Hindsight
Up and around,
over she goes.
Down below,
sunshine in tow.
I hope you are well.
My hands are dry from all the soap.
It hurts to weave when my hands are dry.
A panic,
A pain.
I want to hug again.
Suspended.
Sanitized.
Suffonsified.
Clinging to calm in looming chaos.
up and over, down and through,
Staying close to the chosen few.
Building up,
reaching out.
If we had known,
If I had known.
Sophia Joy Middleton | Artist Statement
I work predominantly with found industrial materials to create textile and basket-based sculptures. Using techniques traditionally associated with domestic craft, like embroidery, quilting and weaving, my sculptural works create space for conversations around gender expression and gender hierarchy, entwining inherited histories and self exploration.
My use of reclaimed scrap materials is motivated by the growing amount of waste produced by Vancouver’s technology and manufacturing industries. Much of the material I collect cannot be recycled or reused. Bringing this landfill bound waste to attention is integral to the conceptual understanding of my sculptural work.
I install my work in ways that critique the institutional bias against craft-based practices in the gallery by investigating histories of the vertical and horizontal planes of the gallery.
Material associations with industrial labour and manufacturing are in contending conversation with the repetitive, pensive process of weaving and quilting that I employ in my practice.
Selected Works
Sophia Middleton | Artist Bio
Raised in Canmore Alberta, Sophia Middleton found her artistic passion among talented local artisans. Now living and working in Vancouver, privileged to be on the unceded land of the Coast Salish peoples.
Sophia Middleton received her Bachelor of Fine Arts and Minor in Curatorial Studies in 2020 from Emily Carr University of Art and Design. During her studies, she co-founded and co-curated the student run gallery The Object Corner and was the resident art writer for the Lantern Publication.