Rocks that Turn Into Lovers at Night and Tickle Each Other (detail), 2024
Statement
I live in a mountainous place full of sedimentation, erosion and volcanic activity. In my paintings, these external phenomena become visual metaphors for internal ones: for experiences of long-term romantic partnership, aging and intimacy. The paintings borrow gestures such as settling, burying and erupting from the landscape and turn them inwards, back onto the body and the self.
A newly acquired crochet addiction/affliction, experienced by many Pacific Northwesterners, has also resulted in the production of crocheted objects that are companions to the paintings. These crocheted pieces explore what it means to feel comfortable—at home, even—in spaces of uncertainty.
Bio
Sally Scopa is a painter based in Bellingham, Washington, where she teaches at Western Washington University. She runs Queen—a project space with the dimensions of a queen-sized bed—out of her home. The space supports emerging artists in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
Scopa has been awarded residencies at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, SOMA in Mexico City, and the Cité internationale des arts in Paris, France. Recent shows include a a solo exhibition at Oolong Gallery (San Diego) and a two-person exhibition at el Museo de la Ciudad (Querétaro, MX) with Carlos Vielma, as well as group exhibitions at 550 Gallery (New York) Ladies’ Room LA (Los Angeles) and Radio28 (Mexico City).
Scopa holds a BA in Visual and Environmental Studies from Harvard University and an MFA in Art Practice from Stanford University. She is originally from San Francisco, California.
Email: sallyscopa [at] gmail [dot] com
Instagram: @sally.scopa
Images courtesy of the artist, Jim Bergman, Zony Maya and Federico Ramos