Sophia Vigne Welsh

Biography

Play and exploration are central in Vigne Welsh’s approach to making paintings. This is underpinned by a questioning of her instinctual gesture and a material led process. She challenges the limits of mark making and materials to build space and investigate the emotional and physical experience of her environment. Influenced by the Supports/ Surfaces movement, wabi sabi and remix culture as well as her own personal history, Vigne Welsh thinks of painting as a safety net for trying out new ideas. What possibilities can be realised within the inherent constraints of the surface?

Vigne Welsh’s way of painting is informed by her interests and experiences, which of late include the works of Joan Snyder and Martha Jungwirth; a recent resolution in the form of a council house to her mother’s housing insecurity; memories of organizing raves with friends; and the safe embrace of familiar arms in the midst of heartbreak.
Her studio practice is deeply personal, yet also serves as a platform to challenge entrenched hierarchical value systems, achieved through the deconstruction and reconfiguration of elements both within the canvas and in site-specific spaces. She employs non-traditional materials and application methods to subvert conventional norms, offering a subtle critique of art history and institutional frameworks. Through rigorous improvisation, the surface is activated, kept open, and alive with fierce intention.

Vigne Welsh is an Irish artist currently based in London. Prior to this, she lived and worked in Lisbon and Los Angeles. She graduated from the Royal College of Art in September 2024 with an MA in Painting and earned her BFA from the National College of Art & Design, Dublin, in 2016.

She is the recipient of the prestigious Clyde Hopkins Award, which provides a studio and mentorship at APT Studios in Deptford, London. Her work has been commissioned by notable brands such as Guinness, Roe & Co. Whiskey, and Hen’s Teeth, and her practice is supported by the Irish Arts Council."

Education

MA, Royal College of Art, 2023-2024

Certificate, Turps Art School, 2022-2023

BFA, National College of Art and Design Dublin, 2016-2020

Private Collections

AWARDS

2024 Clyde Hopkins Award
2023 Agility Award, Arts Council Ireland

COMMISSIONS

Guinness Storehouse
St. Patrick’s Day Festival, Dublin City Council
The Dean Hotel, Galway
Hensteeth Studios, Dublin
Roe & Co. Whiskey, Dublin