For this week’s 5 Questions and a Sketch column we’ve peered into the mind of Vancouver native Sophia Burke, who is currently showing her delicious series of images Sweet Mementos at Les Territoires.
What is the first artwork you fell in love with?
A Felix Gonzales-Torres piece – Untitled (Blood) from 1992. I had many flings before that, but this was my first time really in love. The piece is a plastic bead curtain all in red. When I experienced it, the piece was installed so that you had to walk through the piece to continue on through the gallery. As you pull back the curtain, the weight of these plastic beads triggered a very emotional experience for me.
I clean, I swim, I sing country music and if that doesn’t work I go for a walk or watch a Robert Altman movie.
Hmm, I would really love to see a ball, like the ones shown in the documentary “Paris is Burning”. I would probably need to be a fly to get in.Â
I recently read “Going Clear” by Lawrence Wright on the history of Scientology. I would definitely recommend that. It’s an impressively researched non-fiction book that reads like a hollywood movie, thanks to all of the real-life kidnapping, fraud and celebrity cameos. Otherwise for dream-like fiction I would say “The Rings of Saturn” by W. G. Sebald.Â
Complete this picture:
Sophia Burke received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Concordia University with distinction in design and photography. Her work has been exhibited in Canada, France, Japan and the United States. She received the Charles C. Gurd Award from Concordia University allowing her to participate in a residency at Vermont Studio Center during October 2012. The online magazine Wondereur recently published her work. Sophia Burke (a Vancouver native) lives and works in Montreal.
Sophia Burke
Sweet Mementos
January 3 – 25, 2014
http://lesterritoires.org
