Sophie Angbao’s summer residency for the Fredericton Arts Alliance runs July 25-31.
Fredericton Arts Alliance
With her whimsical, baby-like creatures, Sophie Angbao aims to break out of the classical notions of what constitutes fine art.
Angbao is an international student from United States studying textiles at New Brunswick College of Craft and Design. She has a passion for needle felting with wool. From this, she has managed to design and create distinctive sculptures.
“I find it interesting to let my hands create a character that has not been seen before,” she said.
As a one-of-a-kind doll maker, Angbao is interested in exploring different forms of dolls and working with a new style of artistic work. She wants to push the boundaries of what dolls are and how they can be considered fine art.
“I’m going to define fine art in my own way in order to break out from traditional views of what it is,” she said. “I’ll add conceptual images to the body of my whimsical creatures.”
Angbao was hired for a summer job in the isolated community of Knowlesville. She will share her experience of breaking out of her comfort zone during her residency, July 25-31. She will make five whimsical dolls in an effort to convey what she is feeling in this new lifestyle.
The dolls are unique characters with different appearances and personalities. They represent a reflection of her emotions.
“Dolls are like my own personal journal describing where I was, how I was feeling in the time I was making them,” she said. “It’s a physical reminder of where I’ve been and where I am in my journey of life.”
She will have five of her own dolls in her pop-up, which will be in the woods behind Knowlesville Art and Nature Centre, a not-for-profit rural learning centre based in South Knowlesville. She will make the dolls’ bodies out of colourful wool felt and their heads and arms out of baked clay and acrylic paint. Later announcements will have more details about her pop-up.
The Fredericton Arts Alliance is grateful for the support from the City of Fredericton and downtown Fredericton for making these residencies possible.
