Sophia Sutherland is an interdisciplinary painter. Sophia was born and raised in Portland Oregon and is currently based in Portland, Maine while studying for her BFA in Painting at Maine College of Art & Design. She is set to graduate in the spring of 2026.
Her work explores mediums such as collage, painting and using found and recycled materials. Her work has been shown on both West and East coast; at “Where We Are Now” at Portland Community College (2023) in Oregon and Merit Show at Maine College of Art (2025). Outside the studio, Sophia enjoys daily runs on the coast of Maine and volunteering during the spring and summer at Elementary Schools back home in Oregon. Sophia’s bold and energetic style comes through in all she does.
Artist Statement:
I am an interdisciplinary painter. I use installations to encourage audience interaction either physical and/or emotional. I like to elicit an individualized response thus making an ephemeral connection with the viewer. Currently I am experimenting with found and recycled materials and with media projection as an extension of my hand. I am obsessed with the research that follows scavenging for texture and frankensteining various mediums.
I want to transcend collage through use of layering and create an atmosphere reminiscent of the past. By balancing distortion and repetition, the viewer can be truly immersed in my nostalgia, depth and character, reflecting the comparisons of familiar relationships or memories. I find joy in using color relationships to further translate my connections to family and the creation of a personal key. By switching from saturated to faded hues I am researching the muddying of memories over time. I am electrified by the process of making spaces where the notion of play is backed by the exceeding desire to interact.
My artwork is the sandbox and you are the tonka truck.
CV