Sophie Jones is a Leeds based textile and installation artist using hand-embroidery to create playful, large-scale tapestries which document childhood development and experiences of young parenthood. Their work featured in Tangled Up, Behind the Curtain, comprises of three translucent, embroidered curtain panels. Sophie uses their experiences as a young parent-artist to position their work between candid depictions of domestic life, whilst seeking to celebrate and preserve memories of their child’s mark making.
Examining the intrinsically domestic object of the curtain, Sophie uses actions of deconstruction and mending to present a fragmented patchwork of their child’s embroidered drawings, entangled with candid passages of text. Red thread bleeds through unravelling seams, a stark contrast to the otherwise muted palette, which Jones uses to force the viewer to examine the work at an intimate distance. This is paired with drawings reshaped almost entirely through processes of dissolving fabric.
Playing to concepts of the public and private eye, Sophie uses the semi-translucent quality of the cotton fabric to allude to the vulnerable processes of making and exhibiting this work. These works are deliberately unfinished and open to expansion and growth. They use this position to invite the audience to question their role as ‘participant’ in viewing the work.
Sophie Jones is a recent graduate of Leeds Arts University, and has recently exhibited a solo show at The Art House, ‘A Tangled Thread’, supported by the university in partnership with East Street Arts. Sophie was the recipient of the Visitor’s Choice Award of Ones To Watch 2022, and a grantee for the ward of Farsley and Calverley for Leeds 2023.
