Sophia builds her work in layers through embroidery, collage, stitching, weaving, and different painting techniques. She crafts textures out of found seed pods, expired cosmetics, junk mail, and discarded plastic bags through labor-intensive processes that take several weeks to complete.

In 2016, being well aware of our environmental impact, Sophia decided to turn waste into something positive, drawing attention to the issue by seeking new possible solutions. Waste has infiltrated every aspect of our lives, despite numerous recycling programs and initiatives, large amounts of garbage and plastic still end up in the landfill, and into our oceans.

Plastic does not disappear from our planet. It can break down over time into tiny pieces called micro-plastics but will always be there, never truly a part of the natural life cycle. When first approaching her work with waste, Sophia turned to the craft of weaving.

To weave is to make a whole, and traditionally, weaving has been a woman’s work and a statement of female resourceful and inventive creativity. Just as threads were once fibers, plastic bags were once polyethylene, and through deconstruction, they could be weaved back together into new material.

By questioning modern life’s cycle of production and consumption, Sophia seeks new possible solutions for what happens to all our stuff when its intended use is over, giving back meaning to everyday discards by making beauty out of the banal. Her body of work is a reflection of a seemingly assured reality that, through consumption, is now at a continuous loss, a call for action to reclaim a meaningful interaction between humans and the environment.

She chose to work with unrecyclable food wrappers, Mylar, and foil-lined plastic to create a new body of work called Flotsam & Jetsam. Amplifying her scope, she began crafting textures made out of expired cosmetic powders, creams, and liquids collected from family members and friends. For her window installation, Beauty in the Periphery, she spent three weeks recycling 800+ coffee lids that otherwise would have ended up in the landfill. The ornamental multipurpose light-feature was used as a window installation and as an interactive walk for public spaces.

SOPHIA LEE

Sophia builds her work in layers through embroidery, collage, stitching, weaving, and different painting techniques. She crafts textures out of found seed pods, expired cosmetics, junk mail, and discarded plastic bags through labor-intensive processes that take several weeks to complete.

Plastic does not disappear from our planet. It can break down over time into tiny pieces called micro-plastics but will always be there, never truly a part of the natural life cycle. When first approaching her work with waste, Sophia turned to the craft of weaving.

To weave is to make a whole, and traditionally, weaving has been a woman’s work and a statement of female resourceful and inventive creativity. Just as threads were once fibers, plastic bags were once polyethylene, and through deconstruction, they could be weaved back together into new material.

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