Sophia McInerney (1990) Melbourne, Australia
Sophia McInerney started out with collages at the age of 15 as a way of avoiding doing her homework but soon realized that for her art was a very important form of expression. She is now in her second year in a Bachelor of Fine Arts course, majoring in painting. Her earliest inspiration comes from Jamie Reid.

“I was listening to a lot of early punk at the time, and I saw the rough, raw artwork of Jamie Reid who designed much of the poster art for the Sex Pistols. So originally I was drawn to the D.I.Y aspect and how collage can be made up of really simple elements but still be able to be powerful and eloquent. So from this beginning it just developed into my own method that references both a Pop and Dadaist aesthetic.”

Sophia chose collage partly because it is simple to produce but also gives her the opportunity to bring together separate elements from different sources into something unexpected. “An important step in the making of these works is the chance aspect, as the images I use are generally just found and absorbed into the piece.”

For Sophia the appeal of collage lies in its immediacy. “My process is quite fast. I tend to make many pieces at once ..... there is an element of fun and playfulness in my works, because the way I create is through play and trial and error.”