Sophie Glowa and her Hybrids – part 1

I like the word “hybrid”, both as a grapheme and as a concept. I like the notion of cross-breeding very much indeed because taking two different genera and creating a third? How fascinating and disconcerting, both at once — which, not coincidentally, is one way of describing artist Sophie Glowa’s small, detailed watercolours and drawings. From the neck down her subjects look much like you and me, with their jeans and funky shoes; from the neck up is a whole nother story. From the neck up they are nonhuman animals — goats, whales, snakes, pigs — but they are engaged in very human pursuits — drinking beer, smoking cigarettes, sitting around the kitchen table yakking. They are fanciful, these works, and full of invitation to the viewer to create an explicatory narrative. Participatory art . . . what’s not to love about that?

painting by Sophie Glowa

Says Sophie:

My work consists of watercolour and ink drawings on paper. The work is small and detailed, and portrays a collection of hybrid characters against blank fields of white or occasionally posed in sparse, fragmented backgrounds. This minimalist environment suggests starting points for narratives, to be continued by the viewer.

As the odd creatures in this anthropomorphic bestiary interact in scenes pulled from regularly occurring urban contexts, they explore themes of individual and group behavior.

This patchwork of small, direct and humorous drawings invites the viewers to recognize themselves in the characters and contexts and to take part in the open-ended and ongoing narratives of the work.

My work lends itself easily to illustration, children’s books and band or show posters.
Check out a few samples at:
http://sophieglowa.wordpress.com/drawings/