Sophie (she/they) is a queer, neurodivergent, multimedia artist and teacher based in Los Angeles County, CA. Her 2D artwork focuses on storytelling through illustration/cartooning. She sees word-and-image-art as an accessible, engaging, and educational tool for bringing important, untold stories and perspectives out of academic archives into the mainstream. Her stories center on real people whose experiences and lifeswork involve themes of queer and trans liberation, feminism, activism, anarchy, disability rights, and civil rights. Her 3D artwork is more abstract and experimental, making use of found/recycled/repurposed materials for sculpture, installation, and puppetry. Through non-traditional, investigative methods of making, she explores personal curiosities about (and obsessions with) the body, sexuality, gender, organization and repetition, color, and dreams. Her work in puppetry, performance art, and devised theatre unites the personal and social/collaborative aspects of her art through movement based storytelling.
Sophie received her BA in Studio Art from Smith College in 2022, and is currently pursuing an MA in Creative Non-Fiction Writing from the University of Wales, Trinity St. David. She is currently working on a thesis which will be a full length graphic novel-style biography of the Welsh poet and activist Menna Elfyn. Outside of school and art practice, she is a certified Yoga Instructor specializing in kids and adults with disabilities, and teaches art classes in the Pomona Unified School District through the dA Center for the Arts.
Open for commissions, please email sophiewillardvansistine@gmail.com
or DM on instagram @sophiewillardvansistine
Some of Sophie's art is available for purchase on Esty @WillardVanSistineArt