Sophie Rushton
BA (Hons) Fine Art
Sophie Rushton’s expanded painting practice navigates the borders of chronic illness, feminism, and the body. Through sensitive introspection of her own experiences in medical environments, her mixed media paintings and textile works address the hidden inequalities in women’s healthcare and the consequential psychological impact. A careful process of staining, sewing, layering, and creating tension allows her work to explore feminine fluidity, chance, and exposed narratives. Fragility and a desire to control often acts as a starting point for each artwork, with the leaking paint mirroring the chaotic nature of the body in pain.
In her latest body of work, Sophie Rushton seeks to allude to the many women deemed unimportant by wider society and medical professionals alike, forcing the viewer to confront their own ignorance. Subtlety is key. As both a woman silenced and a woman enraged, Rushton believes her purpose is not to shock, but to leave you questioning if you really know what occurs behind the doors of these praised institutions. What happens to each woman on a hospital bed is microscopic, secretive, and vulnerable; these works are the same.
