Silver City, Nevada - Artwork by Sophie Scott of New Zealand will be on display at the Nevada State Legislative Building in Carson City during the 2017 Legislative session! Look for it on the third floor near Ways and Means. Her painting, based on an 1860s photograph of Silver City, was created while she was a resident artist in Silver City in 2015. It was previously displayed, along with about a dozen other paintings and stencils, during a well-attended show at the Silver City School House sponsored by the Resident Artist Program in Silver City, the Silver City Arts group and Healthy Communities Coalition.
In other good news, Sophie will be back at the Resident Artist Program in Silver City in Autumn of 2017.
About Sophie Scott: A painter and printmaker, Sophie has a BFA from the Ilam School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury. In her artwork, images are "stripped back until the places are recognizable only through their landmarks, with just a suggestion of buildings and land form. She draws the viewer into a world which is familiar yet strange, challenging our notion of how we connect with place."
Of her unusual artwork, she writes, "My work is primarily concerned with the stripping back of an image. Through the stencil process I search for the point where an image forms and dissolves. My work consists of two parts, the painting and the stencil. The stencils are residues of my painting process, which hold traces of the hand on the outskirts of a preconceived structure of voids. The editing process of the stencil reduces the image down to what is essential leaving a confetti of geometrics."
Both an artist and a shepherd: In addition to creating award winning artwork that’s been featured in cities such as Christchurch, Sophie is a shepherd on a high country sheep farm in the remarkably beautiful South Island of New Zealand.
Parallels between hometown and the Comstock: She grew up in Kingston, once a main access way for gold in the New Zealand gold rush; today it is a quiet village near Lake Wakatipu. These parallels between her hometown and similar settlements on the Comstock attracted Sophie to the region and it's unique history.
What is the Resident Artist Program in Silver City? A unique resident artist program has developed in Silver City, a vibrant small community on the Comstock located within one of the nation's largest federally designated historic districts. Recently designated an "Arts and Cultural Resources Production Center," the town is already home to a surprising number of Nevada's highly productive artists, musicians, photographers, artisans, archaeologists and other innovative thinkers and unique souls. Those creating in the performing, visual, or literary arts are being invited to reside in town for periods of up to 4 months, in exchange for offering public performances, exhibitions, workshops, art work, etc. in the Northern Nevada region.
Past Residents have included multidisciplinary artist Brian Schorn of Michigan, New Zealand printmaker Sophie Scott, internationally known photographer Frances Melhop, Oakland- based writer and artist Scott MacLeod, London-based artists Stewart Easton and Claire Scully, former Utah poet laureate David Lee, etc.
For the 2017 season, Residents will include poet David Lee, artist Sophie Scott, emerging musician Mylo McCormick, and cultural research team “Marksearch” ( includes Sue Mark, who has a MFA in art and a BA in linguistics and philosophy, and fabricator and mechanical engineer Bruce Mark).
Contact: The "Resident Artist Program in Silver City" is privately funded and directed by Theo McCormick and Quest Lakes. Artists have been scheduled through Autumn of 2017, and additional applications are being accepted for later dates. Please contact Quest Lakes at P.O. Box 123, Silver City, Nevada 89428 or 847-0742 for additional information.
More about the Resident Artist Program in Silver City can also be found here: https://www.facebook.com/silvercitynevadaresidentartistprogram
See some of Sophie Scott's work at Rogue Nevada: http://roguenevada.com/portfolio_page/sophie-scott/
