Exhibition runs: September 29 to November 7, 2023
Artist Statement
I like clouds, cozy mountain cabins, and camp coffee. I did not go to art school. Instead, I have been collecting little moments of the world outside. Running through crisp fall forest mornings, red leaves rimed with frost. Eating handfuls of huckleberries on a hillside. Stopping at the sparkle of fresh snow in brilliant sunshine. Once, I even slept in an igloo. In the Arctic. We built it just before dark. It fell apart, so we had to build it again before we could sleep.
Making art is a way of honouring those moments. I’m inspired by artists who took their brushes outside, who told a story of their wild places. Walter J. Phillips, William Rice, the Group of Seven, Edgar Payne, Frances Gearhart, and many more. The spirit of adventure lives on.
There may be rumbling clouds and hail-frozen fingers. There may be times of type two fun. But there’s a spark in the heart, in dreams and in memory – a place where it never rains.
Artist Biography
Sophie Graine is a printmaker and painter based in Edmonton, Alberta. Primarily self-taught, her formal education is in the natural sciences. Sophie has studied with renowned artists Mitchell Albala, Jeremy Herndl, and Timothy Horn. In 2015, a move to Fort McMurray created the time and space to focus on refining her artistic vision and skills. She started to show her work in 2022.
Sophie works in two distinct styles. Her realistic paintings are intended to represent the world as it is – coherent from a distance, yet unravelling into abstraction when one looks closer. These are created using traditional media of oil paint and gouache.
Her painted linocuts explore a different world – a hazy world of dreams and memories. The lines are sharper there. Each series is designed, carved, and printed by hand at her studio. Each individual piece in the series is then painted in watercolour. This way of working yields images that feel fresh and playful.
Website: sophiegraine.com Instagram: @sophiegraine
Naess Gallery is located within The Paint Spot 10032 81 Avenue Edmonton AB T6E 1W8