New American Paintings

The 2015 New American Paintings Reader’s Choice Winner Is…

Several thousand of you voted and selected Sophia Narrett as New American Paintings Reader’s Choice Artist of 201 5. Congratulations Sophia!

As this year’s winner, Sophia will receive a $1000 cash prize from New American Paintings. Learn more about Sophia and her work below. Thanks for voting!!!

Sophia Narrett | The Rose Ceremony, Embroidery Thread and Fabric, 19 x 16 inches

Sophia Narrett | The Rose Ceremony (Detail), Embroidery Thread and Fabric, 19 x 16 inches

Here’s what our juror, Anna Stothart, had to say about Narrett’s work, which appeared in New American Paintings #117…

“During the review process, I was really taken with the embroidery work of Sophia Narrett. These beautifully detailed works reminded me instantly of the delightful chaos of a Hieronymus Bosch painting. However, instead of creating a fantasy world illustrating moral and religious narratives, Narrett merges visual allusions to renowned paintings. In The Animation of Hands, a group of ballet dancers evoke Edgar Degas’s famous dancers in The Ballet Rehearsal on Stage, while three nude women on a blanket conjure Paul Cézanne’s The Bathers. In the upper left corner, three figures’ faces waver into abstraction in a manner similar to that of Edvard Munch’s The Scream. The full composition comes together in a wild and haunting portrayal of the history of painting that begins to literally, and perhaps metaphorically, unravel along the edges.”

Sophia Narrett | Stars Align, Embroidery Thread and Fabric, 33 x 48 inches

Sophia Narrett | Stars Align (Detail), Embroidery Thread and Fabric, 33 x 48 inches

“My work is ultimately about love. I try to honestly depict my fantasies, desires and fears in a way that does justice to my feelings, while also pursuing an awareness of the social implications of images. Each piece begins as a narrative premise shaped by my experiences or thoughts. I then illustrate these stories by embroidering from collages built with source images gathered on the internet, iphone photos I’ve taken, and screenshots from movies or tv. The original context of the images provides a way to complicate the initial narrative and to connect to larger social situations. The commitment it takes to render images in thread becomes a way to imbue the object itself with the emotional content of the story. I want to depict confusing interactions between people, especially those that let imagination and desire blur reality and involve some kind of roleplay. I’m interested in the ways that adults play, whether their games are consensual or manipulative, and the emotional results of escapism.” – Sophia Narrett, 2016

Sophia Narrett | Something Went Wrong, Embroidery Thread and Fabric, 35x53 inches

Sophia Narrett | Something Went Wrong (Detail), Embroidery Thread and Fabric, 35x53 inches

Sophia Narrett lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She was born in 1987 in Concord, MA. She received her MFA in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2014 and her BA in Visual Arts from Brown University in 2010. She has participated in residencies at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Lux Art Institute, and Vermont Studio Center. She has had solo exhibitions at Arts + Leisure in New York, Space Gallery in Portland, ME and Jordan Faye Contemporary in Baltimore, MD. Her work has been included in group shows at Cindy Rucker Gallery, Mixed Greens, Nancy Margolis Gallery and Arcilesi & Homberg Fine Art in New York, The Gateway Project in Newark, NJ, and Kunstforeningen GL STRAND in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her work is included in the collection of the Rhode Island School of Design Museum.