Sophia Pereira

Artist Catalogue

Virtual Exhibition

To Garden;

To Garden; is a deeply introspective exploration of trauma, healing, and the reclamation of feminine power. The foundation of this work lies in the primal connection between the feminine experience and nature. My work was born through reverence of Clarissa Pinkola Estés’ Women Who Run With The Wolves (1992). Estés’ exploration of the wild woman archetype has influenced my work, encouraging me to delve into my instincts, creative impulses, and intuitive emotions as a method by which past trauma could be healed.

This body of work represents an undertaking of revitalization and an examination of the ways in which the patriarchal structuring of society has resulted in a culture of Feminine based sexual trauma that reverberates throughout generations of women. Through a theoretical foundation of Jungian Art Therapy techniques as well as inspiration taken from Penny Siopis’ methodology, I have embarked on a creative endeavour that delves into the intricate layers of connection and disconnection. I have attempted to confront and challenge painful legacies, both within the personal and the collective. To Garden; is not just a collection of art; it is a method of nurturing my internal landscape, it is an offering of the Garden and to the Garden.

Influenced by Greek Pagan fertility rituals and the symbolism of the garden, I’ve cultivated my own space of self-worship, seeking to reconcile the complexities of life, death, and regeneration. Through intuitive and instinctive creative processes, I’ve embraced surrealistic methods to give physical form to my inner world.

My art serves as a medium for addressing the profound impact of sexual trauma on the lives of women, an issue deeply rooted in societal structures. I employ a combination of media and techniques, including clay, to allow the unconscious to manifest and externalize itself in order to foster catharsis and healing.  My sculptures are raw, unfired, imbued with various materials such as fruit, tallow, and even my own menstrual blood. I’ve collected the metaphorical bones of myself so that I may hold them, breathing life into them through painting, sculpting, and storytelling. My art is a sacrifice of self and a sacrifice to self. It embraces the periphery by allowing a space to be reborn through deep sentimental care. I have torn myself apart, broken down walls, and rebuilt internal structures in order to bring the internal to the external which has in turn allowed me to be reborn.

My creations stand as embodiments of vulnerability, sensuality, and the multifaceted aspects of trauma. Each of my artworks and collections are imbued with a history of sexual trauma.

And as such this body [of work] has become a continual process of reclamation. An overwhelming insistence on the validity of feminine ways of being in the world. It stands as a testament to the necessity of art therapy and the importance of embracing the wildish self.

To Garden; invites viewers to explore the dreamscape of the psyche, to undo the internal and external predators, and to embrace the fragile, the rotten, and the broken. It is a call to unite those who have been lost in the desert of trauma, to reclaim their sense of self, and to embrace the life/death/life cycle that defines the feminine experience.In essence, To Garden; is a journey of healing and renewal, a reflection of the ongoing process of self-discovery and empowerment, and a tribute to the resilience of the feminine spirit.

To Garden; is a process, an act which I have undertaken in order to harvest my internal landscape. It is an offering of the Garden and an offering to the Garden. It is a moment, a movement, a space of rot and stagnation, an embracing of renewal and rebirth. It is a space that is both wide awake and fast asleep.