Sophia
Pace
Kaulen
I think I’ve been an artist my whole life. I’ve been drawing and observing my city, family, the natural world, and all walks of life for as long as I can remember. It wasn't until my summer at the Art Institute of Chicago, however, that I began to understand a narrative in my work and what life as a practicing artist looks like.
I aspire to create art that can disrupt entrenched narratives and provide a voice for the underrepresented by telling new stories that reflect the richness and diversity of society. People have always been a central point in my work. Whether in drawing, painting, sculpting, or photography, portraiture and the figure are the forms I'm most drawn to. I capture the stories I see and endeavor to share them, promoting inclusivity and arousing empathy.
It's hard to say what my artistic process looks like; it varies from piece to piece. Sometimes, I have a concept and vision for my final product. Sometimes, I don’t have a clear vision, but I begin, and the concept crystallizes as I create. Sometimes, I work purely off texture, color, aesthetics, or composition to articulate a piece. Sometimes, amid a design, I step back, or even away, taking pause. Within this hiatus, I discover a new direction. Often, I find myself revising, collaging, and reworking pieces until they take their final form. I am not afraid of failure when I work because I believe that it is fear that inhibits creativity, so I explore and rework fearlessly.
I use many mediums. I like to explore, but I also have a few that I am most passionate about and attracted to: currently, those primarily consist of ceramic art, photography, drawing, and painting. I typically use mediums that are the most immediate and provocative. I like to be purposeful with line and mark-making, and utilizing a stark material enables me best to do so.
Community is a core value of mine. I am socially and politically active and a strong advocate for change. I am a learner and love to expand what I already know and discover what I don't. I want my art to speak, and for me to be able to create works that generate important conversations, I need to have something worth saying.
Public art and its integration with the natural world is a great part of my identity. I am especially drawn to and advocate for public art in under-resourced communities that are not otherwise provided with communal beautification efforts. My art is informed by this curiosity for public spaces, the communities of individuals who interact within these spaces, and the stories that percolate from within. I find myself forever searching for new ways to deepen my understanding of art as a generator for a shared experience. Creating work is a mechanism for questioning, initiating discourse, beginning new conversations, exploring different paths, and generating new stories or narratives. At that point, art becomes a vehicle for creating change.