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

Alright, Sophia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

Being an artist can result in an incredible life. Living outside the limits of a “regular job” and being able to make for the sake of art produces deep thinking and revolutionary individuals. However, we live in a world where rejection of the status quo can be extremely difficult. My art career started in 2011. I spent nine years collecting a BFA in Sculpture, a BA in Art History, and an MFA in Sculpture. That entire time, I never slowed down enough to considered another career. However, upon completion of my MFA, I struggled to make a living for myself selling my work. Much of my practice is installation based and doesn’t lend itself to frequent sales. I applied to many full time faculty jobs in higher education with no luck. Like many artists with advanced degrees, I had to take on multiple classes of adjunct work to make ends meet. After two years of adjunct work teaching three to five courses a semester, I realized that my artistic practice had suffered significantly. The need to earn at least the basic cost of living had kept me so busy that studio work had turned into a distant fantasy. Since early 2022, I have been working to build a secondary career in an attempt to secure a prolific studio practice again soon.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Like many artists, I was drawn to making at an early age. I received my undergraduate degrees from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and my master’s degree at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Since then, I have worked as an art instructor at several universities and shared my work in internationally in galleries and museums. My most recent and significant exhibition was the Gilbert Bayes Award exhibition in London last year.

My work is often made from found objects. Worn and weathered artifacts of rural life are centered in a narrative of domestic and agricultural labor. I use the physical residue of a seemingly simple lifestyle to tell stories of the complexities of underlying relationships.

Artist Statement:

“In the process of being broken open, worn down, and reshaped, an uncommon tranquility can follow. Our undoing is also our becoming.” –Terry Tempest Williams

Life leaves behind physical and mental residue. Some of these remnants are precious while others are tragic. Regardless of its origin, this residue can be made beautiful. Remnants of the materials and objects that surround us chronicle our history as complex individuals. My sculptures investigate my own physical and mental residue to dissect and examine my personal history.
To reach the rare serenity I search for, I unravel experiences that are residually prominent in my memories. Of particular importance are events and objects that have shaped my perception of self.

stories told by my grandmothers
a dysfunctional family dynamic
objects that provide visual touchstones to my childhood

These experiential fragments and memories are a testimony of personal description. My work attempts to calm the dissonance of these memories and share the resulting narrative. Ultimately, my work describes self, history, and a personal theology in transformation. This theology allows me to create beauty in spite of trauma.
Each material I use is carefully considered and manipulated. By selecting discarded materials that are worn and weathered or that contain a rich visual association, the core of my work contains an embedded but indirect history. Objects whisper.

a scrap of stained lace
fragments of a chandelier
an item that is completely unrecognizable

I analyze these whispering objects and decide if they should be lovingly preserved or thoughtfully dissected and reshaped. One method is a contemplative collection. The other is a rebirth. Both methods draw out the stories embedded within.
Central to the preservation or dissection in my work is the metaphoric act of sewing. This craft process harkens back to the traditional idea that women are preservers who mend all that is broken. Rather than the gendered practice of sewing for domestic use, however, I reclaim the act of sewing to recontextualize my experiences. I mend what is torn and tear what needs to be free. By creating from destruction, I am piecing together a complex but beautiful history.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Being an artist releases a person from many of the constricting restraints in our society. Artists often have a different set of values that allow us to think very deeply, both critically and philosophically. The freedom to take one idea as far as it will go and then sometimes even farther allows us see the world through a different set of rules. As a result, artists drive critical dialogue on many fronts. We lead discussions about topics like society, economics, environmentalism, and psychology in a format that can be accessed by anyone who is willing to engage. Artists are often observed as living on the edge of society but our work cuts right through the middle of life’s biggest questions. Being an artist can bring so much value not only to the artist, but to everyone who comes in contact with their work. It is a way to share ideas with people we will never physically come in contact with.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Unfortunately, making a living as an artist is an extremely difficult task. Many of the jobs available to artists are over-saturated with extraordinary, over-qualified candidates. I spent three years in the academic job market with no success and had to pursue a career elsewhere to make ends meet. Even my modest lifestyle was not sustainable. In 2022, I got my Private Pilot Certificate and have been working towards a career as a Commercial Pilot. Even though this shift seems unrelated, I find a romantic overlap between art and aviation. Being thousands of feet above the earth’s surface produces a perspective that encourages deeper thinking. Ultimately, I hope to attain stability and a schedule that allows me to return to art in a meaningful and sustainable way.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sophiaruppert.com
• Instagram: @sophiaruppert
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