Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1972, Sofia has lived and worked in Chile since 2003. She received her education from Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes Prilidiano Pueyrredón and went on to complete a diploma in Visual Arts Theory and Philosophy as well as Aesthetics, both from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Her passion for art has led her to participate in various workshops with other artists in Argentina and Chile.
Throughout her career, she has showcased her work in various venues, such as private galleries, museums, cultural institutions, and art fairs in Argentina, Chile, the UK, France, and Brazil. Some of her exhibitions include; La deriva del gesto y la forma at the Museo de artes visuales of Santiago in 2021, Biennal Révélations at the Grand Palais in Paris in 2019, Trio Biennial, Dress the World in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2017, and Contemporary Visions 8 at Beers London in 2017. She has also participated at some fairs such as ArteBA, and MAPA, in Buenos Aires, Cha.co in Chile and Parc in Perú.
Ceramics became a significant milestone in her work in 2009. The materiality of ceramics allowed her to combine her pictorial and gestural pursuits, and to investigate the disintegration of form with greater vehemence. Since then, she has dedicated herself mainly to ceramics, complemented by drawing. She founded the workshop La Roca, where she develops ceramics-related projects, such as seminars, exhibitions, and visits from other ceramic artists.
Her contributions to cultural exchanges between Chile and Argentina were recognized by the Argentine Embassy at Santiago, and she was awarded the Fund Ventanilla Abierta from the Ministry of Chilean Culture. She is a member of the International Academy of Ceramics since 2021. Her work has been included in publications such as Conversatiorio, 15 artistas multidisciplinarios argentinos contemporáneos, Bs As in 2018, Fibras latinoamericanas, Arte al Límite, Chile in 2018, and 20 años Galería Artespacio, Chile in 2015.
Visit Sofia Donovan’s website and Instagram page.
Featured work
Selected works, 2018-2022
Through my artistic work, I dedicate myself to exploring the duality between order and chaos, beauty and cruelty, as well as life and death. In my practice, I am interested in the passage of time, the constant mutability that characterizes living beings, and the moment when these transitional forms fade away in the irreversible process of dissolution.
I focus my attention on the representation of life and death, as well as on transformations, processes of deterioration, and the constant evolution that both nature and human beings go through. Therefore, my work is an investigation into the psychological interior of a temporary and biological body while simultaneously trying to capture the most primitive essence of human nature. One that is hidden behind layers of social conventions and the artifices that surround us.
In my artistic creation, I use manipulation and alteration techniques of objects and materials to generate tension between the original form and its subsequent transformation. The goal of my work is to capture how the residues of the past become symbols of transience, permanence, fall, loneliness, and how transformation processes generate deaths that in turn give rise to new forms of life in an abrupt and forceful way.
Elements of nature, from animals and plants to landscapes and atmospheric phenomena, are sources of inspiration for my work. I integrate them in an organic and integrated way to create works that incite deep reflection on the nature of existence and our own human condition.
