Sophia is a critic and philanthropy professional based in Canberra. Sophia graduated with First Class Honours in Art History & Curatorship from the Australian National University in 2019, culminating in her thesis project Inherent Vice: on material culture and the mortality of ephemeral art. An excerpt of this thesis was published by the ANU Research Journal.
Sophia is the 2019 recipient of the Janet Wilkie Memorial Prize for Art History and Art Theory, the ANU’s top undergraduate honour for art history. In 2019 Sophia was also awarded the Capital Artists Patron’s Organisation’s (CAPO) Curatorial Award and the Australian Museum and Galleries Association’s (AMaGA) Curatorial Award for her work as an intern with Canberra Contemporary Art Space.
In 2020, Sophia was Critic-in-Residence for Australian National Capital Artists (ANCA) and Art Monthly Australasia and was Shortlisted for the 7th International Awards for Art Criticism (finalists to be announced in June 2021). She was also named as one of Agenda Paris & Asia-Pacific’s 30 Under 30 Emerging Cultural Leaders.
Sophia works in private giving at the National Gallery of Australia, working with her colleagues in the Development team to secure private funding in support of the mission and vision of the National Gallery. She is pursuing an Msc in International Development at the University of Edinburgh.
Curatorial projects
| 2020 | Negative Space | Canberra Contemporary Art Space |
| 2018 | State of Flux | ANU School of Art & Design |
| 2016 | Artists of the Great War | National Gallery of Australia |
Publications
| 2020 | Through the Looking Glass at TarraWarra Museum of Art | Art Monthly Australasia Issue 326 |
| 2020 | Looking ahead: on creative recovery in the midst of a pandemic | Art Almanac |
| 2020 | The seen and the unseen in Tony Albert’s ‘Duty of Care’ at Canberra Glassworks |
| 2020 | A good time to be a post-internet artist | Art Monthly Australasia Issue 324 |
| 2020 | Subject of change: Becky Gibson and Nina Juniper’s ‘A Provisional Landscape’ | Australian National Capital Artists |
| 2020 | Substance and Surface: Christopher Burton’s Pencil On | Australian National Capital Artists |
| 2020 | “eX de Medici: Belling the Cat” | Art Monthly Australasia Issue 323 |
| 2020 | “Christine Manfield” | Artonview 101: Know My Name edition |
| 2020 | “Urs Fischer’s Francesco 2017: on material culture and the mortality of ephemeral art” | ANU Undergraduate Research Journal Volume 10 |
| 2019 | “Ephemeral Art and Material Culture”, conference paper | ANU Student Research Conference |
| 2019 | “White Cube to Black Mirror: Art in the Post Internet Age”, Tainted Love exhibition catalogue | Canberra Contemporary Art Space |
Awards
| 2020 | Shortlisted for International Awards for Art Criticism (Royal College of Art, London and Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai) |
| 2020 | Agenda Paris & Asia-Pacific ’30 Under 30 Emerging Cultural Leaders’ |
| 2019 | Janet Wilkie Memorial Prize for Art History & Art Theory |
| 2019 | Capital Arts Patrons’ Organisation (CAPO) Curatorial Award |
| 2019 | Australian Museums and Galleries Association (AMaGA) Curatorial Award |
Work Experience
| present | Development Officer | National Gallery of Australia |
| 2020 | Critic-in-Residence | Art Monthly Australasia & Australian National Capital Artists |
| 2019 | Curatorial Intern | Canberra Contemporary Art Space |
| 2017-19 | Administration Officer | National Gallery of Australia |
| 2016-17 | Visitor Experience Officer | National Gallery of Australia |
Education
| Ongoing | Master of Science (International Development) | University of Edinburgh |
| 2019 | Bachelor of Art History & Curatorship (Honours, First Class) | Australian National University Thesis | Inherent Vice: on material culture and the mortality of ephemeral art |
