past and present
A Solo Exhibition by Sophie Capron
7th – 30th September 2022
Behind the physicality of Sophie Capron’s highly textured paintings, richly made up of layers and painterly marks, there lies a fascination with the constantly evolving impact of human presence on the environment.
The activity of painting, the different forms of application, marking, scratching and abrasion are not only suggestive of the natural processes of weathering and seasoning but they also hint at the traces we leave in the places we pass through. Her painted surfaces, skimmed and overlaid, reveal a multitude of worked marks and scratches, these bring to mind aged doorways, peeling plaster, crumbling walls, places where time has left its mark, where traces of human interaction speak of countless interventions, deliberate or otherwise, that have all accumulated over time.
Weathering and maturing, sometimes thought of as an erosion of perfection, of the loss of the sparkle of newness, reassuringly carries in Capron’s paintings a richness and beauty, a patina of fullness. The 19thCentury Romantic fascination with the sublime beauty of abandoned forgotten ruins is given her own contemporary twist.
Occasionally forms are suggested within the abstract surface, sometimes these appear as plant-like emblems or outlines that hint at some other natural thing, at other times they are more universal shapes such as circles or spirals. We are brought close to some sort of recognition, but Capron is an artist who always resists a defining conclusion, instead her paintings convey the sense that everything is in a state of perpetual evolution.
Sophie Capron trained at Winchester School of Art, also spending three months at Kawashima Textile School, Japan. She now lives and works in Cornwall. She has an international exhibiting profile with shows in the UK and USA, France and Japan. She joined Artwave West Gallery in 2016 and is a permanent Gallery Artist.
EXHIBITION WORK
