Sophie Keith is a queer artist based in Newcastle upon Tyne. Their practice combines painting and ceramics, using materials commonly related to gender and class, and subverts traditional techniques to create preserved relics suspended in time.

 

Keith's work attempts to explore ways of recording time which debases the history of patriarchal social structures, and instead focuses on creating and excavating pieces to create a museum of objects that depict queer, personal and displaced narratives. They explore imagined worlds and non-linear timelines, and recent works explore the use of paint and clay to create survived relics of the past which has been subjugated by nature. The objects are inspired by folklore, science fiction, horror and prehistoric sites  - symbolism and form is abstracted, and notions of ritual and worship are weaved throughout Keith's works. 

 

Keith explores the use myths as an explanation for the world we live in - if myths are only routed in the old - when did myths stop being told? Keith explores the manner in which mythology and popular culture overlap - looking at how modern stories work in similar ways to traditional myths. They are especially interested in cult films, fan culture, and how things like props, sets, or souvenirs can become emotionally charged objects, like modern-day relics. They want to learn how people create rituals around fiction, and how belief is shaped through fantasy and storytelling.