Sofia Arnold’s Paintings Are Part Of The American Folk Movement

moray mair | Art and design | October 9, 2012

Sofia Arnold‘s paintings and drawings are steeped in folk tradition, a time passed, combining the old and the new, modern life and a traditional way of living. Her work lives in a conundrum – the attempt to live in an unspoilt environment that’s constantly being eroded by modern life and technology. Her world is fantastical, a place in which there is an ongoing narrative between man and nature, geography and lifestyle.

Here’s what she has to say about her work:

I am moving around the country with the long-term goal of settling in the midwest. I am interested in ruralism and neo-folk movements, but from a voyeuristic rather than participatory viewpoint.

I see the people and animals in my paintings as somewhat recently transposed and in the process of reconciling old ways of living and thinking with a new environment and new demands. My process is very open to accident and chance in the initial stages, after which I carefully edit the objects, colors, and movement of the piece.

Most material objects in my work serve as fading markers of the intersection between old and new, familiar and unfamiliar. I am also experimenting with forcing some of my autobiographical idols and demons and into this environment, just to see what happens to them.