Sophie Bray

Waking rise, 2026

OIL ON LINEN
36 × 14 cm
$950
Sleeping too soundly in the North East Wind,
the quiet tide shifts once more.
Cerulean stripes upon the green,
Stirring the waking rise.

A red leaf passes an eagle ray,
the tide pulls through my fingers.
The gloaming weed shifts once more,
Where the past light is hidden.

My current painting series captures the effects of the shifting tide, observing life below the transparent skin of the water, as well as the atmosphere, colours, and light above. The restrained palette and refraction of colour seek to communicate moments of transition.
Born in Australia, I have lived and worked in Los Angeles as well as in Sydney. I completed Masters of Fine Arts at the University of New South Wales and was a recipient The Australian Postgraduate Award, The Toyota Emerging Artist Encouragement Award and the William Fletcher Foundation Scholarship for drawing. I have held 7 solo exhibitions and have been included in 26 group exhibitions. In 2024 I won the Mayor’s Award at the Waverley Art Prize for the piece ‘Alone with a Thousand Eyes’. I have also been a finalist in: The Ravenswood Women’s Australian Art Prize, The 20000 Lethbridge Small Scale Art Award, The Lethbridge Landscape Award, The JADA, The Sunshine Coast Art Prize, The Hazelhurst Paper Awards and the National Emerging Art Prize. I also exhibited in Paris as part of the Paris Drawing festival at Galarie ALB. My work has been acquired by the Morton Bay Art Collection and the Moran Art Foundation. The Oceanic Swell series was featured in a book of international contemporary artists, Super Modified: The Behance Book of Creative Work.
National Emerging Art Prize