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Sophie Crichton, born in Toronto in 1993, is a contemporary abstract painter currently based in Barcelona. She is recognised for her vibrant large-scale canvases, employing a diverse range of mediums including acrylic, oil stick, charcoal, inks, spray paint, and pastels. Crichton’s artistic practice is deeply rooted in the traditions of abstract expressionism and surrealist automatism. Best known for her visceral and colourful abstract paintings, her work is characterised by densely worked surfaces, bold tangled black lines and frenetic scratched mark-making, creating a distinct visual language that is both offbeat and expressive.
Crichton’s work explores themes such as collective disillusionment with contemporary life, alienation in the digital age, and the search for identity, community, and belonging. Her paintings are deeply influenced by the experience and surroundings of urban spaces, particularly the liminal spaces within a city where individual aspirations and societal norms often clash. These themes are transmuted into a strong visual language that is abstract yet evocative. In her work, one can see almost recognisable cartoony shapes and characters that reference childhood memories and collective experiences. Through her work Crichton seeks to embrace and transmute the contradictions inherent in modern life. Her work oscillates between playful optimism and uncertain darkness, underscoring the fragility and interconnectedness of human experiences across cultures. The butterfly, symbolising themes of transformation, rebirth, the subconscious/collective unconscious, the delicate nature of existence and interconnectedness of all things is a recurring motif in her exploration. In this way, Crichton’s work is not just a rejection of the absurdity of modern life, but also an ode to the persistence of the human spirit and the quest for authenticity and meaning in the face of alienation.
Crichton’s creative process is intensely visceral, akin to surrealist automatism where she taps into raw realms of creativity through the subconscious. Drawing from her own sketches and the urban environment as source material, she allows inks to stain and bleed into raw canvas, scrapes and scratches away layers of paint, and obscures symbols and graffiti-like marks with contemplative veils of washes. Crichton’s process is a delicate balance between intuitive raw energy and deliberate, intentional movements, resulting in compositions that are visually arresting. Her canvases, reminiscent of the patina of city walls, are textured and layered, bearing the marks of time and human interaction. This process of adding and subtracting creates compositions packed with punchy colours and dark gestures, conveying a powerful attitude and offering a response to our current reality. Her canvases are imbued with tenderness, tension and power- a nod to the contradictions and turbulence of contemporary life.
Crichton’s artistic achievements include several group shows, London Art Fair, Estampa Art Fair in Madrid, two solo exhibitions with another opening October 2024, participation in the Adidas Originals Reimagined Campaign SS23, and the inclusion of her works in private collections throughout North and South America, Europe, and Dubai.
Hi Sophie! It’s a pleasure to sit down with you! First question that I always ask. How does a regular day look like for you in Barcelona?
Thank so much I’ve been really looking forward to this, grateful to be here! I go to my studio pretty much everyday, except the odd Saturday and Sunday. I usually start my mornings with some stretches followed by coffee and reading articles. I start listening to music pretty immediately to set the tone of the day and generate energy. Barcelona is a very walkable city and the streets are full of life and character, especially the area my studio is in- Raval.
I absolutely love walking and it helps me clear my head and get inspired. I get in to the studio around 9 or 10 and then I’ll sometimes start with drawings to warm up. I feel most inspired and fresh in the mornings so I try to take advantage of that. I’ll spend the entire day at my studio working on different paintings or doing ‘studio admin’ but a lot of time is also spent looking at the works and reading. In the evenings I try to engage with the creative community in Barcelona whether that’s a gallery opening, pop up or listening event.
I’m curious, growing up, what kind of kid were you? What did you enjoy doing, and how did you spend your time?
Haha, I was always a little bit strange and I was quite shy at first. My favourite tv show was Goosebumps and I brought Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas for ‘show and tell’ in kindergarten. I was/ am obsessed with animals. I always felt a little bit like an outsider and school didn’t come easy to me….that’s probably another reason I leaned towards art.
Seeing that you’re originally from Canada, what brought you to Barcelona?
I really love the southern European way of life and Europe’s diverse cultures. I was attracted to Barcelona by it’s rich culture, history and lifestyle. It has a growing art scene, and attributes of a big European city but being on the Mediterranean it has bohemian feel to it which I love. The city is full of creative people from all walks of life.
So when did you start to paint, and when did you start taking being an artist seriously?
I’ve always been a creative person but I didn’t start painting seriously until after the pandemic when everything opened again and I had access full time to a studio in 2021.
Alright Sophie, with these next series of questions, I will try to delve into your work as best as possible. Forgive me if I’m wrong in any of my observations… So… Themes like disillusionment, digital age alienation, and the search for belonging are central in your work. How do these ideas manifest in your visual language?
Disillusionment often involves a sense of fragmentation, loss of clarity, or broken ideals. I use layering and erasure as a way to convey this, think of thick impasto marks being scraped away or surfaces being scrawled upon, creating a sense of abrasion and resistance. Frenetic forms and marks mirror emotions that arise from unmet expectations whether in personal life, societal systems and the digital world.
Broken lines and unfinished forms echo the dissonance and tension between personal ideals and modern life. I appropriate forms and lines from cartoons and scratch letter like marks into the surfaces- creating a mash up of visual stimuli that nods to our consumption of mass media and information. Marks, lines and shapes seem to reach out to one another into tangles of vibrating visual forms. Twists, and looping lines, the contrast between straight and rigid forms and organic shapes coming together and sometimes clashing is a visual manifestation of the digital debris we encounter. I represent but also transmute these themes in my work by using playful colours and whimsical imagery.
My use of areas of intense colour saturation (suggesting the overwhelming sensory overload of the digital age) contrasted with moments of stark, almost oppressive emptiness or minimalism (which could reflect isolation or the void often felt in the digital world).
Urban environments, especially liminal city spaces, seem to be a strong influence. Can you talk about how these surroundings shape your creative vision and what you hope to convey about city life?
I’m interested in liminal spaces and urban environments and I think of these spaces in a few different ways. I think about the qualities of liminal spaces, the way transient spaces often have a patina- they bare the mark of time and human interaction. I pay attention to details and imperfections and I’m interested in the psycho-geography of urban spaces and how this can affect the inhabitants.
These places are marked by wear, dirt, dust, graffiti and vandalism- there is a sort of abstract language to be read. The other way I like to think of the concept of a liminal space is by it’s definition of being a boundary or threshold between two spaces. I think it can be applied conceptually to the sub cultures or counter cultures that exist in society beneath the ordinary or on the margins of ordinary life.
For example the underground music scene of a city is a pulsing current of creativity and life that exists on the margins/beneath every day life. I think it’s so interesting how different art forms intersect in these spaces, and the ripple effect they have. I’m interested in this underground ecosystem of culture and art that you find in cities. I draw a lot of inspiration from music and the aesthetic of these places. I think I’m curious about the uncanny or unusual, I want to be surprised, I’m attracted to style. I just hope to remind people to stay curious, stay in awe. I think the trick is to keep your eye fresh, sometimes we forget how strange and wonderful things really are.
The butterfly is a recurring motif, symbolizing transformation and interconnectedness. What initially inspired you to incorporate it, and how has its meaning evolved in your work?
Initially the butterfly came back into my awareness by looking at old sketches I had done as a child. I loved the awkward imperfection of my hand at that age and the shape was a way to enter the painting and use it’s motif as a composition and pattern. Looking deeper into the butterfly as a symbol in cultures and a metaphor gave it deeper meaning and I began to replicate it over and over again, infusing it’s meaning into my work. Some of my butterflies are so abstracted you might never guess they are there.
Your paintings contain almost-recognizable shapes and characters that evoke childhood memories. What role do nostalgia and collective memory play in your art?
I am a pretty nostalgic person. I mean my past and my upbringing is what shaped me as a person, and I’m grateful for the way I was taught to see, because this shaped my view of the world and my creativity. I create because I want to translate how I see the world and how I feel about life into a visual experience. This is how I communicate with the world. I’m interested in the collective memory in the way that there is a sort of aura to different times, and each generation. I’m curious how this subconsciously affects us as a mass culture, and what the deeper meaning is behind aesthetic values of a time. I’m interested in exploring how certain objects, places, or moments in time shape our identity.
You describe your work as oscillating between playful optimism and uncertain darkness. How do you navigate these contrasting emotions in your pieces?
I think there’s a bit of subconscious angst that comes with living in the absurdity of modern life. I think it’s natural that a bit of that tension is reflected in the work. By contrast I am deeply grateful to be here and for the life I have.. so I also want my work to be fun and hopeful. I explore these contrasting feelings with frenetic mark making, line work, whimsical colors and creatures. It’s almost like the characters are laughing in the face of absurdity. I want some works to be a bit more somber and contemplative and others to be cheeky and pack a punch.
How do you feel this tension reflects the contemporary human experience, and what do you hope viewers feel when encountering your work?
I think a lot of us live with cognitive dissonance, I mean how could you not? There is a frustration in the feeling of powerlessness and unfairness of our world. A lot of the powerful or heavy works are a natural reflection of our times, however I also want to highlight the joys and playfulness of being. In the more playful and cheeky works I am rejecting this absurdity. I hope people feel inspired.
Can you walk me through your creative process. From beginning, to end result?
Starting a blank canvas comes really naturally and intuitive to me. I love it. There is so much freedom. Sometimes I start by building up a background with layers of paint or washes, other times it will start with sketches or doodles or marking the canvas that I later paint over. My whole process is about adding and subtracting, manipulating, scratching, and defacing parts of the work. As the painting begins to develop the marks and different elements begin to compete with each other and it gradually becomes more intentional and strategic.
As I don’t know where the end is, it can become difficult to resolve at times. I’m constantly embracing mistakes and wrong moves and pushing against doubts. I’m searching for the image as I work and pulling it out of the process. Sometimes I will have a flash of a painting in mind or a sketch I love that I want to reference but if I’m too rigid about the outcome it shows and I become stifled. The paintings always seem to take on a life and direction of their own. I am dancing between control and chaos.
Can you also tell me about your use of symbolism?
I’m interested in the nuanced role of symbolism in mostly abstract paintings, even if the work doesn’t rely on literal representation or figuration. My symbolism often functions on a more subtle, emotional, or subconscious level. I use less literal symbolism to evoke a mood in a work which sort of directs the experience of the work. For example the use of colour, shapes, forms and textures to symbolise different states of mind.
A major theme in my work is the dynamic between controlled, deliberate marks and spontaneous, chaotic splashes or strokes which can symbolise the balance—or struggle—between order and disorder, the rational and the irrational, or stability and instability. Personal symbols that are hidden in my works would be mushrooms, crescent moons, eyes, butterflies, hearts and cartoon characters I made up.
All of these visual cues come together to create an abstract visual language that is encoded with personal narratives and histories- often stemming from or referencing memories from childhood and formative years. I’m working within the weight of my experiences and pushing the boundaries of what should and shouldn’t be, I’m working within intangible areas of thought and feeling. Abstraction is attractive to me because it engages viewers on an intuitive, emotional, or psychological level, prompting personal interpretations and resonating through visual cues that don’t rely on direct representation.
How do you approach color?
I love the use of colour in the way that it can immediately translate a mood/ narrative of a painting. Although I have always worked intuitively in regards to colour, these days I am more interested in using colour intentionally to direct, set, or cue a specific atmosphere.
So with what we just talked about, what are you hoping to convey?
Using aesthetic decisions and personal style I hope I can convey a part of our world and experience that isn’t tangible or easily described with words. I want my work to function as a vehicle to transport viewers to unknown and sometimes complicated spaces. This is one reason why I love and work in abstraction- it’s not bound by representation and obvious subject matter. As soon as you recognise something your mind jumps to a conclusion.
Abstraction is weirder than that and sometimes it asks more than it answers. I want to convey a pursuit of things not easily described by words, things that are felt but not necessarily seen. I’m vague because everyone’s experience is different and I don’t want to impose my notions. Also that’s why I paint- it’s my mode of processing and communicating. I think if I could describe it in words accurately maybe I would be a writer.
You recently had a solo show with ESCAT Gallery, titled “Angels, Devils & Friends”. What’s the story behind that title?
Angels, Devils & Friends references the creatures and cartoon faces you sometimes see in my work. The title is a nod to the concept of “masks” in society: the roles, identities, and personas that individuals adopt in different social contexts, often to fit in, protect themselves, or conform to social expectations.
Can you tell me about your body of work for this exhibition. What was your inspiration behind it?
The inspiration behind this body of work primarily came from exploration in total expressionism and dealing with formal elements like line, colour, shape etc. This is generally kinda how my practice works. I’m problem solving on a visual level and working intuitively. It’s only after the painting is finished and has had some room to breathe that I analyse it in a more psychological way and where my mind was at that time. For example with the creatures- I was thinking about cognitive dissonance in our society with relation to the roles and masks we’re meant to play and socially the masks you meet.
Could you describe a typical studio day? How do you approach your materials, and are there specific rituals or routines that help you connect with the raw energy in your work?
My only ritual is music and caffeine haha. Always always with music. It’s the first step of my process. Music opens up a space mentally to create and helps me tap into a rhythm and flow state. Each painting has it’s own rhythm and tone to it, with the marks being different beats. Music helps me loosen up so that I can find the rhythm of my work and embrace spontaneity and mistakes. I like to come in to the studio in the mornings when I’m fresh and feeling inspired- I really love mornings.
Sometimes I’ll start by looking at what I’ve done the day before and contemplating it but usually I get straight to drawing on paper or in my sketchbook. Drawing straight away is an immediate way to get me thinking about what my intentions are for the works that day. I’m also really interested in automatic drawing, as a way to try and access the unbconscious. I will stay at my studio all day until the evening.
In a parallel universe who would you be? and what would you be doing?
In a parallel universe I’m still a creative… a dj/producer or filmmaker.
Can you tell me a story about a time when a connection with someone had a big impact on you?
I’ve spoken with some successful artists both painters and dj’s/producers and what had a big impact on me especially were the ones who are super genuine and real, and generous with their knowledge and experiences. What stands out to me is someone’s integrity and humility and dedication to their craft. I’ve met a lot of really great artists who are also great humans, who are generous, and it definitely makes you feel less alone on this path.
As well I have to say my parents. I am so blessed to have such kind and compassionate parents, who believe in me and push me, and have always stood by me through hard times. I’m grateful to have that support system, to keep me grounded, and in check.
What qualities do you find most important in the people you choose to spend time with?
Integrity, authenticity, kindness, drive, and compassion. Honestly nothing else is more important to me than those qualities.
Anybody you look up to?
My parents. They’ve worked so hard and always taught me to do the same, and they’ve instilled in me integrity and the value of doing things well. They always told me – it doesn’t matter what you do, but do it well and do it with intention, care, and presence. Also my mom, she is one of the strongest people I know and I love her perspective on life.
What motivates you?
I’m motivated to create a life of meaning and a way of living life, something that lasts, and to go deep into what it means to be human.
How would you describe a perfect day?
Laughing with the people I love.
Alright Sophie, I always ask these two questions at the end of an interview. The first is. What’s your favorite movie(s) and why?
Ohhh tough question.
Off the top of my head….Fallen Angels – Wong Kar Wai, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind – Michel Gondry, Pulp Fiction – Quentin Tarantino, No Country for Old Men – The Coen Brothers, Lords of Dogtown – Catherine Hardwicke, Place Beyond The Pines – Derek Cianfrance, Natural Born Killers – Quentin Tarantino, American Beauty – Sam Mendes, American History X – Tony Kaye.
I love the art of story telling in each of these movies, the cinematography and the way each of these films deal with the human experience or philosophical questions.
The second is. What song(s) are you currently listening to the most right now?
Some of my favourite tracks I have on repeat are: Convergence by Random Factor, Bug Powder Dust by Bomb The Bass (The Kruder and Dorfmeister mix), Always Then by The KVB, 93 ’til Infinity by Souls of Mischief, Vanished by Crystal Castles, Morphine by Boy Harsher and Same ‘Ol Thing by A Tribe Called Quest.