Sophie Peters: An Interview
It all began with a sketch. On Instagram, seriously. Then, a book cover commission. Here’s what followed.
Josh Dale: Thanks for allowing me to interview you. Why not tell everyone a bit about yourself?
Sophie Peters: I’m a young white artist. The likes of which has never been seen before! (laughs) Nah, I am queer and overly empathetic, paranoid and obsessive visual artist. I love making things and learning about people through art, through connecting with people. I think that’s what it boils down to, a desire to understand people and document the moments that are poignant to me in a visual form. I write a lot and play about with guitar and violin, but drawing is what seems to resonate best.
JD: I’m like that with drums. However, we’re on a break…Anyway, how does having dual citizenship affect your outlook on art? Life?
SP: I never felt very at home growing up, moving early to the UK from Minnesota was probably a template for how I would live the rest of my life. My mother’s parents never stayed still either, so it was not unusual that I didn’t want to stay in the town I grew up in in England. As early as possible I started travelling, first to Stroud, which was a three-hour train ride and where I found a lot of musicians and artists for the first time and spent my first important years, then moved to Birmingham and the USA as part of my degree. Dual citizenship only affected me when I got the opportunity to work in New Orleans. That’s when I realized how lucky I was to be able to come to this amazing city as more than a tourist. I have that outsider perspective, but I am lucky enough to be able to make myself a home here in the USA.
JD: That’s quite an experience! What’s your personal philosophy to illustrating (if any)? I know it’s kind of a broad question but its something to think about when one is not focused on a specific project.
“I think that’s what it boils down to, a desire to understand people and document the moments that are poignant to me in a visual form.”
SP: Philosophy to illustrating? No I hadn’t thought of it, I think working with text and writers is the best thing in the world, I look up to the artform a lot and to be able to add to a writers work in any way is a joy for me, because reading stories makes me better, makes the world better. It helps me understand the lives of people I have never met, that is invaluable.
JD: Binding art and text is something I could only dream to achieve. Ok, so. when transferring a tangible, physical painting/drawing into the digital, do you feel it takes away the nuance of the tools that created it?
SP: A little, yes. I am not as proficient with editing software as with a paintbrush so I’m sure some of the power of the work is lost. That being said, it is fab, because you can use and manipulate imagery far faster on a computer, with less mess, and can create a ‘gallery’ online in a sense, which is more practical in a way. I just like the tactility of craft artwork.
JD: You lost me at ‘editing software’ (laughs). I saw you won the Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize? How has this prize affected your current work? Your general well-being?
SP: It was great to win something. I needed the confidence boost to know that I wasn’t just good in my own eyes, y’know? I needed to know that other people could see value in what I was doing. The way it was organised and handled as a prize was actually very stressful. I didn’t like the lack of control they gave me, the restrictions on the subject matter (no nudity for example), their lack of adherence to deadlines... just general organisation was a bit ‘meh’ to be honest. One guy, from America, won a photography prize and didn’t get his prize money till weeks after the ceremony, which I think is a little disrespectful (I had to nag them for my prize money a bit too, which was embarrassing to have to do and made me feel cheap). But I learned a whole lot about the world through it and I enjoyed the experience overall and I am extremely grateful.
Peters accepting her Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize.
JD: Oh, yeah that is pretty dodgy, but hopefully you get what you deserve. On a lighter note, does your horoscope play a part in any of this? (laughs)
SP: (laughs) NO. I studied science! I don’t believe in any of that at all, I like facts and logic…it’s fun to play along with horoscopes though and some people tell me that my distrust of it is a VERY Scorpio trait.
JD: Well ok then, water sign buddy. What about the city of New Orleans, LA.? How does a city famous for jazz and Creole influenced your work?
SP: YAY fun question. I love New Orleans, but of course, I am a newbie to the town and still have a lot to learn. It’s a struggling city for sure, but the people here are just so amazing. It seems like everyone plays music, everyone makes art as a normal part of life. Where I grew up, I felt very alone. Despite music being a huge part of my life and my parent’s world, I never quite felt right. In New Orleans I feel at home, I feel safe to be myself, to be weird, to dance like no one is watching. Jazz and creole are around me all the time, and whilst I am not a jazz player, the love people have for music here makes it my kind of place. The sheer visual beauty of the city also influences me a lot, as do the strong character…no one in NOLA is bland. There is no shortage of inspiration. NOLA makes me bolder, reassures me that people care about art and can make a living from it. Hopefully, more time here will help me make some stronger work.
JD: I do have New Orleans on my map at some point, so thanks for painting that picture (pun intended). Total throwaway question: do you use all of the paint in a tube or does a little amount get tossed?
SP: All of it (laughs). A girl in my secondary school (middle school) used to joke with me and use more paint than necessary just to irk me. I use all my paint up every time. No waste ever. Same with food. I hate waste in any sense.
“It seems like everyone plays music, everyone makes art as a normal part of life.”
JD: An eco-friendly artist is always the best…Hey, thanks again for the interview. It was a lot of fun. If I could close out with one last question…what’s the worst American slang you’ve heard?
SP: Ah, no thank you! (laughs) I can’t think of anything bad…I love the slang here! I like ‘y’all’ especially...one of my friends says yander and yonder a lot which also makes me laugh I’m not sure if that is slang or what...
Sophie Peters was the winner of The Ashurst Emerging Artist Competition (2019) the CHBH (Centre for Human Brain Health) artwork competition (2018), Part of the (PARSE) Fifth Annual Southeast Louisiana Juried Student Exhibition (2018) and Highly Commended for the under 18 Artprize Award (2015). Her work has been published in Entropy Magazine, a book of street art by Kady Perry (2019), The Centrifuge Brain Project by Thirty West Publishing (2019) and The Boston Accent and Cotton Xenomorph poetry journals (2018).
Peters investigates identity, environmentalism and gender binaries primarily through paint, text, video and mixed media. They were born in MN USA, 1996 and grew up in England.