Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sophia Hope. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sophia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

I have never doubted that a career in a creative field was right for me. From a young age I have always been the most happy when surrounded by art or making any kind of art. I’m the kind of person that knows what I like and what I don’t. I always knew I didn’t want the type of job that was just for the money, or was easy but miserable. I love the challenge that comes with being a creative and how it is never the same. I don’t like to be doing the same thing for a long time. Having a lot of projects makes me feel fulfilled. One time my dad tried to teach me things about coding- he was a great data engineer- and as he was explaining certain things to me, I started to zone completely out and stare at the wall. After a few minutes he saw I was staring, patted me on the back and said to me, laughing, “it’s okay, baby, I know you will be great one day with your art. You won’t need this.” That story is so funny to me, and it makes me feel very lucky. I feel like I never had to doubt my creativity because I had a great support system growing up. I think my family never really wanted me to have a normal job, I think they knew I would hate it. I am very grateful to have had that.

Sophia, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Sophia Hope Fagan, I make a lot of different kinds of art but my concentration is photography and filmmaking.

I grew up in Jacksonville FL, and for those who don’t know, there is art everywhere in the city from all kinds of local artists. I loved growing up there because the art made the city and world around me so beautiful, so I wanted to do the same. I grew up listening to a lot of different music. My dad was a DJ from New York so he listened to everything, so then I did too. I find myself making art that reflects things I’ve seen and people I’ve met from both Jacksonville and New York, and reflects the themes that were present in art I was exposed to growing up. My mom grew up in the south, so she was around nature a lot of the time. She found her happiest of places in nature. The love of nature my mom has passed on to me is very present in my work as well.

I feel like something that’s makes me different is the blending of genres that I do in my work. I know mixing genres well because of my contrasting influences, and how unique Jacksonville is, with the crazy/cool things I’ve seen there. I feel like a lot of times in life, there is never one emotion or style. You can have the best and worst day of your life in one day, or something can be hard and easy at the same time. I feel like I’ve experienced that a lot, so I put that in my work.

I am the most proud of how I am able to see art and beauty in everyday life. I feel like that way I never run out of inspiration. Also, when I make art about everyday things, people connect with it well, and that makes me feel fulfilled because my main purpose in creating art is giving people something to connect to.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I feel like the best way society can support creatives is imagining a world without them. I feel like non-creatives don’t realize how much art is in their everyday lives. The radio, the show you watch with your family, even the car you drive was designed by a creative. I think if society thought more about the fact that many normal things require creative minds, there would be more appreciation, and people would maybe even encourage creative careers for their children.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn was that when you deal with an emotion, and work through it, you can let it go. Growing up you think everything is step-by-step, but as I got older I started to realize that’s not true. There are some emotions that I thought I had resolved within myself, or that certain chapters of my life were closed. Years after, as I made certain art pieces, or as the ideas came to me, I realized I had felt a different way I thought I did, or some things were still present in my life. After I realized that, I started to notice that fact with many things in my life. Not everything is a box to be checked. Things can be way more complex than that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sophiahfagan.wixsite.com/sophiahope
• Instagram: @sophfagan
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWNVdH_xlPC4x_jtX0H3OsQ