Bio
Born: Johannesburg, South Africa.
Lives and works: Boston, MA, U.S.A.
Sophia Ainslie studied for her B.F.A. at the University of South Africa, and her Teachers Training at the Johannesburg Art Foundation, in South Africa.
From 1998–2001, under the full sponsorship of her patron Henny Kirshon, and the Art History Department at Tufts, she pursued her MFA in Boston, at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts/Tufts (’01). After graduating she received the Anne and Graham Gund award to attend the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, in Maine (‘01).
Some of Sophia’s most recent exhibits include Inside Out (’11, solo, catalogue, essay by Karen Kurczynski) and Land Marks (’09, solo), Kingston Gallery, Boston; Gallery 360, Northeastern University, Boston (’09); Ice Box Project Space, PA (’08, catalogue; Fuller Craft Museum, in Brockton (’05-’07, catalogue). She is an Artist’s Fellow at the St Botolph Club, in Boston, where she was invited to have a solo show in 2010 and 2008. Sophia has participated in residencies such as, Triangle and ART/OMI (catalogue and book), in NY; Gasworks (book), in London; Thapong (catalogue and book), in Botswana, Southern Africa; Thupelo, in Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa. Her work has been reviewed and published by the Boston Globe, The Boston Phoenix, ArtScope Magazine, Northeastern News, Arts Media and others.
She has received grants to pursue her work from the Sugarman Foundation (USA); the Hamlyn Foundation (UK), the African Arts Trust (UK), Oppenheimer Trust (SA) and others.
Sophia has lectured in Southern Africa at the Johannesburg Art Foundation, the South African National Museum, in Cape Town, and the Gaborone Museum of Art, in Botswana. She currently lectures at Northeastern University and New England School of Art and Design, in Boston. The summer of 2010, she was invited to participate in a teaching/studio residency at the Burren College of Art in Ireland, made possible by Northeastern University.
www.sophiaainslie.com
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