Sophie Boyd
Bio
My practice combines the research of queer love letters and print publications with painting. Abstracted figures, drawn with watercolour and ink, coupled with found-writing, reference the silent voices existing within archives. In my practice, I transform these subtle glances, intimate body languages, and emotive writings, into their own visual landscape. I use watercolour and ink on satin fabric to achieve an intentional figurative blurring - the pigments bleed together, until the embracing lovers are literally inseparable. I would describe my method as a controlled chaos; the process seeks both intention and a surrendering of control.
The hanging installations of painted satin convey the ephemerality of archival material, and symbolise the veil between divergent temporalities. The lightweight fabric flows easily with the slightest passing movement, giving the impression that these long-gone figures are revived in our own time. I encourage visitors to walk around and between my hanging works, to sense the connection between our past and our present, and walk with the figures through time.
Janus-faced (2025)
Since researching archival theory, I have been fascinated by Elizabeth Freeman’s notion of ‘temporal drag.’ This term describes the push and pull of history; both its effect on the present and the present’s reverse effect on the past, specifically through a queer feminist lens. By titling my degree show project Janus-faced, I refer to Janus, Roman god of endings, beginnings, and transitions. My figurative coupled paintings mimic Janus’ doubled face, and turn inwards in moments of romance. My work centres themes of touch, pose, public/private space, and memory.
My practice poses a unique intervention within the archive, while calling for the consideration of an ephemeral counter-archive. Satin material is essential to both my method and message. Pigments bleed and travel across the shining surface, conceiving new forms, while the hanging fabric symbolises a flowing, semi-translucent veil segregating the past from our current moment.
Janus-faced (2025)
Sophie Boyd
