Explorations by Sophia Esterman

Opening reception for Explorations, paintings and prints by Sophia Esterman. Exhibit runs from June 1–June 27.

Artist's Statement
These artworks explore my relationship with life and death over the course of the last several years in which I have been a mother to young children and lost my own mother. The constraints of space and time involved in my daily life have created a certain restraint and density in this body of artwork. The artworks are multi-layered symbolic narratives that explore themes of motherhood and cycles of birth, life, and death. A number of them are also different iterations of the subjects and projects that I create with my art classes. I enjoy the challenge and opportunity of finding something new in the same material repeatedly revisited. Creating art opens the door to images that I often understand only later—the process gives them an opportunity to emerge.

Artist's Bio
I have always loved art. I grew up near Washington, DC, visiting the art museums frequently and freely. I studied painting and printmaking at both Carnegie Mellon University, for 1 year, and Columbia University (BA 2004), as well as privately in New York City. I later discovered that I enjoy teaching art. I moved to Salt Lake City in late 2009, as I had fallen in love with the beautiful backdrop of the mountains in my daily life. I studied art education at the University of Utah (M. Ed. 2012), and that has been my profession since 2009, in SLC high schools since 2012. I currently teach art at West High School. I have continued to create my own paintings and prints all the while, mostly to explore my own experiences of life.

• Age group: All Ages
• Event type: Exhibits; Arts & Creativity