Deep Ecologist Arne Naess describes a unique heightened experience, where one feels a self-realisation that one is intrinsically connected to nature – “a feeling often called ‘oceanic’ because many have had this feeling on the ocean”. Oceanic Surface explores the feeling of immersion and the connectedness one senses by the sea and reflects upon the beauty and fragility of the natural environment. Creating Oceanic Surface was an act of contemplation of light, reflections and patterns and became a meditation on my place in nature and my relationship to something beyond my immediate world. This painting was partly made with a reductive technique, wiping and scratching away layers of applied paint. I physically eroded and sanded the surface as a meditation on the erosion of the health of the ecosystems beneath.
Sophie Bray’s artworks evince feelings of immersion and the connectedness one senses by the sea. Her painting, drawing and analogue photography practice reflects upon the beauty and fragility of the natural environment. She enjoys exploring tensions in her work which pull between: abstraction and representation, gestural marks and smooth blended surfaces, monochromatic palettes and vibrant coloured grounds.
Born in Sydney (1986) Bray has lived and worked in Los Angeles as well as in Sydney. She completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts (HONS1) and Masters of Fine Arts at the University of New South Wales and was a recipient of the University of New South Wales Honours Scholarship, The Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence, The Australian Postgraduate Award (2008-2010), The Toyota Emerging Artist Encouragement Award and the William Fletcher Foundation Scholarship for drawing. Since 2004, she has held 6 solo exhibitions and has been included in 24 group exhibitions. Her work has been acquired by the Morton Bay Art Collection and the Moran Art Foundation. Bray’s work was published in a book of international contemporary artists, Super Modified: The Behance Book of Creative Work. She exhibited in Paris as part of the Paris Drawing festival at Galarie ALB, and has been a finalist in the Ravenswood Australian Art Prize, The 20000 Lethbridge Small Scale Art Award, The JADA, The Sunshine Coast Art Prize and The Hazelhurst Paper Awards.
