About
Born in Germany and now living in Los Angeles, Sophie Wahlquist combines the duelling sensibilities of the European lineage of figurative painting with California’s sun-drenched perspective on the natural world. Working in painting, collage and ceramics, Wahlquist often turns to subjects of personal importance; family members, friends, and concerns of one’s psychic and spiritual life.
Perch or Fly, 2021 is part of Wahlquist’s ongoing response to childhood and play. Taking up the centre of the canvas is a group of bodiless children, surrounded by gestural strokes, colour blocks, a pink pig and row of houses. The painting is an exploration of the imagination and fantasies of a child, spaces that becomes dampened by adulthood. In this way, Wahlquist’s work builds and reflects the feelings and experiences of the past, present, and in some respects, the future.
