following a narrow trail up through the bush behind the house, i arrive at a large field grown in with grass and low bushes, bordered by trees. pine and birch trees, mostly: the smell of the needles on the ground. it is my mother’s mother who tended a garden here, carrying the water. this asparagus was planted years before she ever arrived. i cut down the overgrown rhubarb and i cook jam, standing over the stove — steaming and sweating. in the underbrush there are small wild strawberries — a seemingly endless supply — though by now i understand that nothing is endless —
sophia bartholomew works outwards from the ruins and runes of their own cultural inheritance, adapting found and salvaged materials to create material-spiritual constructions. Their sculpture and installation work exists as part of an open and living system – borrowing its poetics from craft patterns and junk piles, stories and sagas, improvised adaptations and decisions of necessity. They are descended from Norwegian immigrants on Treaty 3 territory and English and Irish settlers in and around so-called Toronto.
email / bartholomew . sophia @ gmail . com
instagram / @bartholomew.sophia
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b. 1987 in Toronto, the territory of Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe nations, including Mississaugas, Wendat, Seneca, and Ojibwe –– land governed by a Dish With One Spoon wampum, and more recently subject to Treaty 13, an agreement made in 1805 between the British Crown and the Mississaugas of the Credit
academic
2020 – 22 MFA in Studio Art at the University of Guelph
2007 – 12 BFA in Visual Art at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver
2009 – 10 academic exchange at the École National Supérieure des Beaux Arts in Paris, France
2005 – 06 Fine Arts diploma at Åsane Folkehøgskole in Bergen, Norway
education
2022 meLê yamomo decolonial sound seminar and workshop in Guelph
2018 mentorship work with Sheilah ReStack, with support from Canada Council
2017 movement workshops with keyon gaskin at Studio 303 in Montreal
2017 Future Imaginary symposium with Initiative for Indigenous Futures at the Winnipeg Art Gallery
2017 community care workshops with Carmel Farahbakhsh and with Kai Cheng Thom at The Khyber in Halifax
2017 Black Lives Matter reading group with Shaya Ishak and Jade Byard Peek at The Khyber in Halifax
2013 The Atlantic Symposium: new directions in art writing with cmagazine at NSCAD in Halifax
2012 reading and writing workshop with Amy Fung at 221A in Vancouver
exhibitions
2022 “All Flourishing Is Mutual” (co-curated by Katie Lawson and Jaclyn Quaresma) group exhibition with Images Festival installed at Commerce Court in Toronto
2022 “Loose Parts” (curated by Hannah Keating) three-person exhibition at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa
2022 “ankle biter, bean counter, fender bender” (MFA thesis exhibition) at Boarding House Gallery in Guelph
2021 “Performance Drawing” (co-curated by Carali McCall, Birgitta Hosea, Maryclare Foá) online group exhibition hosted by The Centre for Recent Drawing (C4RD) in London UK
2021 “grass taps” group exhibition at the plumb in Toronto
2019 “I could be writing about you, but I’m writing about me.” (with Hannah Doerksen, curated by Alicia Buates McKenzie) for Femme Wave festival in Calgary
2018 “nose/knows\notes of care” (co-curated by Lucy Pauker, Luke Mohan) group exhibition at the Anna Leonowens Gallery in Halifax
2017 “Limited Time Offer” (curated by KC Wilcox) at Connexion artist-run centre in Fredericton
2017 “A through H” for water cooler gallery in Calgary
2016 “ERI 7” (Eyelevel Re-shelving Initiative) group exhibition at the Dalhousie Art Gallery in Halifax
2015 “Frontier” (co-curated by Solveig Font Martínez, Daz Paz and Marilyn Volkman) group exhibition at avecez art space in Havana
2014 “Somewheres” (curated by Pan Wendt) group exhibition at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery in Charlottetown
2014 “going out of business like its going out of style” for Third Space Gallery in Saint John
2013 “EPLE SLANG [apple scrumping]” (curated by Tara Bursey) for window box gallery in Toronto
2013 “formerly george’s footwear” for Roadside Attractions in Toronto
2013 “window dressing” for The New Gallery in Calgary
2012 “here you are.” (curated by Colleen Heslin) mural project for the crying room in Vancouver
2012 “a version” for TopDown BottumUp in Vancouver
2011 “an/aesthetic” group exhibition at Gam Gallery in Vancouver
2011 “Effects become Causes” (curated by Phillip McCrum) group exhibition at AHVA Gallery at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver
awards
2023 Ontario Arts Council, Exhibition Assistance grant
2022 University of Guelph, College of Arts: Travel, Research and Creation award
2021 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Canada Graduate Scholarship – Masters
2021 University of Guelph, College of Arts: Travel, Research and Creation award
2020 University of Guelph, College of Arts: Travel, Research and Creation award
2020 University of Guelph, Graduate Tuition Scholarship
2020 Canada Council for the Arts, Research & Creation grant
2019 Canada Council for the Arts, Research & Creation grant
2019 British Columbia Arts Council, Visual Arts project grant
2018 Canada Council for the Arts, Professional Development grant
2017 New Brunswick Arts Board, Creation, Career Development, Creative Residency grants
2015 New Brunswick Arts Board, Career Development, Creation, Infrastructure grants
2014 New Brunswick Arts Board, Documentation grant
2013 New Brunswick Arts Board, Career Development grant
2010 University of British Columbia, Dean of Arts ATLAAS award for study abroad
residencies
2019 Tools for Women, woodworking residency in Vancouver
2018 Medalta historic clay district, ceramics residency in Medicine Hat
2017 Platform centre for photographic + digital arts, photo residency in Winnipeg
2017 Connexion artist-run centre, studio residency with rudi aker in Fredericton
2017 The Khyber Centre for the Arts, studio residency in Halifax
2016 The City of Calgary, Open AiR residency
2016 The Galerie d’art Louise-et-Reuben-Cohen, “L’inventaire” research residency in Moncton
2014 arte no es fácil, “Art Present” research residency in Havana
2013 Banff Centre, “Our Literal Speed” visual arts thematic residency
performances
2021 “sound-making, walking” (curated by Carali McCall) for The Centre for Recent Drawing (C4RD) via Instagram Live
2016 “future fitness” (curated by D’Arcy Wilson) for Saltbox Festival of time-based art at Grenfell Art Gallery in Corner Brook
2016 “bag body, body bag” for the Rencontre Internationale d’Art Performance (RiAP) at Le Lieu in Quebec City
2016 “Friday night book club” for M:ST performative art in Calgary
2016 “bread & roses” (with rudi aker) for Flourish Festival in Fredericton
2015 “twenty eight minutes like twenty eight years.” for pizza hut publishing in Vancouver
2014 “ULTIMATE WORKOUT” for M:ST performative art in Calgary & Lethbridge
screenings
2022 Alice Street Clubhouse, “Face Machine” as part of CLUBHOUSE TV in Guelph
2021 Art in the Open, “Ultimate Workout Video” (curated by Damien Worth) in Charlottetown
2016 nGbK Berlin, “Ultimate Workout Video” as part of PUMPED (queer video curation by Coral Short)
2016 Struts Gallery, “Face Machine” as part of OK.QUOI?! in Sackville
2016 Galerie d’art Louise Reuben Cohen, “The Keeping Myself Company presents: Been Trying To Meet You” screened with a live score in Moncton
artist books
2021 “Solutions to the Problem of Staying Alive” (with Hannah Doerksen, curated by Alicia Buates McKenzie) published by M:ST performative art
2018 “Screen Ecologies” (with Emma Hicks) published by Moniker Press
2017 “Companions to the Body” published by The Khyber Centre for the Arts
2016 “TROIS CHAPITRES THREE CHAPTERS” (with Emma Hicks) published by the Galerie d’art Louise Reuben Cohen
published writing
2022 Peripheral Review, “Ask The Mountains” (review)
2020 Artforum, “Jeremy Laing: New Work” (critic’s pick)
2020 cmagazine, “darkness is as deep as the darkness is” (review)
2020 BlackFlash, “Online Exhibitions and the Long Game of History” (essay)
2020 qoqqoon, “Season One” (poems, with Emma Hicks)
2019 cmagazine, “not the camera but the filing cabinet: performative body archives in contemporary art” (review)
2019 Public Parking, “A Sound for Punctuation” (online feature)
2019 Public Parking, “The Thickness of That Fabric” (online feature)
2019 Public Parking “Into Obscurity and Points of Contact” (online feature)
2019 Martha Street Studio, response to “Obscura” by Angela Snieder (exhibition essay)
2019 Visual Arts News, “found/held” (review)
2018 Whiny Femmes, “from the moisture of breathing” (poems)
2017 Canadian Art, “The Women Who Could Transform Acadian Art” (review)
2017 Canadian Art, “Jennifer Bélanger: Self Becomes Art” (online feature)
2017 Galerie d’art Louise-et-Reuben Cohen, “Future Folklores” (exhibition essay)
2017 sad dog magazine, “you are here even when you are not here” (poems)
2016 cmagazine, “the accursed share” (review)
2016 cmagazine, “Writing Topography” (review)
2016 The Bows, “Nine things that happened.” (poetry, for exhibition catalogue)
2016 Canadian Art, “Old Music for New Paintings: in the studio with rudi aker” (feature)
2016 Canadian Art, “A Fortune isn’t a Future: Bennie Allain’s New Brunswick Tarot” (feature)
2016 Visual Arts News, “Ray Fenwick’s ‘le moat juice'” (review)
2016 Canadian Art, “Art in 2016: a view from New Brunswick” (online feature)
2016 The New Brunswick Museum, “Suzanne Hill: by your self” (exhibition essay)
2016 Grid City, “LAPS w Cellarghost, nightbummerz & WHOOP-szo” (review)
2015 CRIT paper, “The Vardørg” (essay)
2015 Kings ARI, “Black Hole, White Wall, Face Machine” (exhibition essay)
2015 Canadian Art, “Working Title” (review)
2014 Canadian Art, “Off the Grid” (review)
2014 Visual Arts News, “On Gathering” (review)
2013 Eastern Edge Gallery, “Another story of erasure, a different one” (exhibition essay)
2011 FRONT magazine, “Reckless Coiffure” (essay)
bibliography
2021 broken pencil, “sophia bartholomew & Emma Hicks find comfort in ambiguity in ‘Screen Ecologies'”
2019 SPIT on the radio, “Screen Ecologies” (with Emma Hicks) interviewed by Emma Metcalfe Hurst
2017 Grid City, “Limited Time Offer: a conversation with rudi aker and sophia bartholomew”
2016 Canadian Art, “our editors’ favourite articles of 2016″
2016 Canadian Art, “Big Art in a Small Town: A Report on Sackville’s Ok.Quoi?!”
2015 Grid City, “Goodbye sophia: Associate Director of Connexion ARC steps down after three inspiring years”
2014 The Telegraph Journal, “Exhibition Features T-shirts From Former Project for a Dollar” (review of ‘going out of business like it’s going out of style’)
2014 Visual Arts News, “Creative Dislocation” (review of ‘Somewheres’)
2013 HERE magazine, “An Existential Workout as Performance Art” (interview with Jon McNeil about ‘ULTIMATE WORKOUT‘)
presentations
2021 “process” panel discussion for MFA Open Studios at the University of Guelph
2019 co-reading with Emma Hicks for “Screen Ecologies” launch with Moniker Press
2018 “Art NOW” lecture at the University of Lethbridge
2018 reading for “Whiny Femmes” launch at the Prairie Art Book Fair at Plug In ICA
2017 artist talk at The Khyber Centre for the Arts
2017 “Active Research Lecture” at Platform centre for photographic + digital arts
2017 “book retort” for also as well too artist book library
2016 visiting artist talk at the Alberta College of Art and Design (AUArts)
2016 contemporary performance panel discussion at Saltbox Festival of time-based art
2016 international performance art panel at RiAP at Le Lieu
2016 co-reading with Emma Hicks for “Trois Chapitres” launch at Galerie Sans Nom
workshops
2017 workshop in lieu of an artist talk, with rudi aker at Connexion artist-run centre
2016 Night School performance workshop for M:ST performative art
2014 reading group in lieu of an artist talk at Third Space Gallery
professional experience
2020 – present member of the Hammock Residency collective, online
2023 sessional instructor for Experimental Studio I (SART 2800) at the University of Guelph
2021 teaching assistant for Specialized Studio (SART 4750) and Core Studio (SART 1060) at the University of Guelph
2019 – 2020 Operations Coordinator for the Lands to Travel Through gathering, co-organized by AAARC (Alberta Association of Artist-run Centres) and ARCA (Artist-Run Centres and Collectives Conference/Conférence des collectifs et des centres d’artistes autogérés)
2013 – 2016 Volunteer with Atlantis, the association of artist-run centres from the Atlantic
2012 – 2015 Associate Director of Connexion artist-run centre in Fredericton
2012 Research Assistant for Barbara Zeigler, Associate Professor at UBC in Vancouver
2011 – 2012 Gallery Attendant at The Belkin art gallery at UBC in Vancouver
2012 Studio Assistant for Geoffrey Farmer in Vancouver
symposia
2015 organized “what the non-human taught us” at Connexion artist-run centre in Fredericton
2012 presented “Lady Brute & the Banal Beauty Inc. Archive” at the UBC Undergraduate Art History Symposium in Vancouver
collections
“The Keeping Myself Company presents: Been Trying To Meet You” in the collection of the Galerie d’art Louise Reuben Cohen