BIO
Sophie Berenika Broch was born in Oslo, Norway, in 1990 and got her first adult experience with clay & ceramics while studying abroad at San Francisco State University in 2013. The clay sedimented in her fingers and her mind, and led her to apply to the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo), where she graduated with a BFA in ceramic art in 2018.
After finishing her degree, she moved north of the polar circle, to Lofoten; a group of islands where you're forever surrounded by the salty sea, magnificent mountains and where the aurora borealis occasionally lights up the dark sky. There she worked as an assistant for a ceramicist based in Henningsvær. She then spent six months in Vesterålen, a group of islands further north, where she had a pop-up store selling ceramic art & pottery from an old fashioned grocery store in the beautiful coastal fisher village Nyksund.
As of August 2019, Broch is living in Tromsø - in popular speech called the Paris of the North - where she is continuing her dialogue with clay in her studio at "Kysten".
CURRENTLY
teaching clay & ceramics at a high school, 45%
working as the ceramic facility manager at Tromsø Kunstakademi, 20%
junior curator, Strandtorget - Mandela, Tromsø kommune
board member, The Norwegian Association for Arts and Crafts : North Norway
events & exhibitions coming up:
study trip to London, April 2022
intro courses in clay, Tromsø, April/May 2022
lecture & workshop, Jugendstildagene, Ålesund, June 2022
exhibition, Kamkeramikk, Kirkenes, August 2022
ARTIST STATEMENT
Clay is a vigorous and engaging material - it gives an instant response when touching it.
This continuous dialogue that the clay invites to, is something I actively use in the creative process and which constantly steers my works in new directions. I add, remove, push and stroke the clay until I achieve an expression that appeals to me. The expression is guided by the dialogue between the clay, my hands and mind during the creation process.
My mind has its preferences which seeks its impression in the clay. The preferences are the surfaces, structures and colors of objects where natural weathering processes have left their marks. The surfaces, tints and shades that these processes generate over time, are expressions I yearn for and have been attracted to for a long time.
Thus, by observational transformation and persistent processing of the clay’s materiality, shapes with expressions that engages me emerge and speak to me:
«I have the right of life».
CURRICULUM VITAE
EDUCATION
2015-2018 BFA in medium and material based art, ceramics, National Academy of the Arts, Oslo, Norway
2016-2017 1 semester abroad, studying art at Akademia Sztuk Pieknych we Wroclawiu, Wroclaw, Poland
2013-2014 1 year abroad, studying art at San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA
2010-2014 4-year teacher education program, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
EXHIBITIONS
juried exhibitions
2021 Nordnorsken 2021, Bodø - Svolvær - Mosjøen - Harstad - Vadsø, Norway
2020 Juleutstillingen 2020, Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo, Norway
2019 NÅ ER DET JUL IGJEN, Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo, Norway
2018 Sommerutstilling 2018, Soon Seilforening, Son, Norway
2014 Juvenarte 2014 REMIGRATION, TM51, Oslo, Norway
selected group exhibitions
2022 Prosjekttittel: "Kamkeramikk", Pikene på broen, Kirkenes, Norway
2020 Nord og Never, Galleri Nord-Norge, Harstad, Norway
2020 Komprimert, Small Projects, Tromsø, Norway
2020 Tromsø Open Art Shop, Tromsø Kunstforening, Tromsø, Norway
2018 Graduate show 2018, BFA in medium- and material based art, KHiO, Oslo, Norway
2018 I never saw a crack I didn’t like, Galleri Seilduken, Oslo, Norway
2017 Open Call Vo. 03, Galleri Seilduken, Oslo, Norway
2017 Wood firing with Torbjørn Kvasbøe, Cabinet gallery, KHiO, Oslo, Norway
2017 Erasmus eXhibition 2017, ASP we Wrocławiu, Poland
2015 Open Call 2015, Galleri Seilduken, Oslo, Norway
GRANTS
2021 Reisestøtte 2021, Norske Kunsthåndverkere
2021 Hjemmeresidens 2021, Sparebank1 Nord-Norge
2020 Tilskudd 2020, Tromsø kommune
2020 Talentstipendet 2020, Sparebankstiftelsen Sparebank1 Nord-Norge
2019 Støtte til kunstnerdrevne salgs- og visningssteder av kunsthåndverk, The Norwegian Association for Arts and Crafts
2019 Miscellaneous grant for recently graduated artists, Government Grants for Artists
MEMBERSHIPS
The North-Norwegian Association for Arts and Crafts (NKNN)
The Norwegian Association for Arts and Crafts (NK)
Kunstnerne i Tromsø (KiT)
POSITIONS
2022-2024 Board member, NKNN
2021-2022 Deputy board member, NKNN
GALLERIES
Nordnorsk kunstnersenter, Svolvær, Lofoten, Norway
Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo, Norway