Slice of Water
Sophia Belkin
March 9 - April 22, 2023
Opening Reception: Thursday, March 9th 6-8pm
Address: 242 West 22nd Street, Buzzer #1, New York, NY 10011

Dinner Gallery is proud to present Slice of Water, an exhibition of new paintings by Sophia Belkin. This is her first solo exhibition with the gallery and will be on view from March 9th through April 22nd with an opening reception on Thursday, March 9th from 6-8pm.

Belkin’s work explores the transformation of energy between organic and inorganic materials within the ecosystem. She photographs images that are digitally printed on fabric and then collages them together with ink-dyed fabrics that resemble spliced specimens viewed under a microscope lens. The result is an amalgamation of micro and macro views that fluctuate between abstraction and representational imagery. 

From afar, Belkin’s works reveal themselves as abstracted forms of plants or water droplets outlined by embroidery. Upon closer inspection, Belkin offers glimpses into her own visual diary through closely cropped images of daily objects, nature walks and magnified insects. Weaving these images together with the loose structures of the dyed-fabric, Belkin flattens perspective and makes these two disparate elements interchangeable. The use of materials echo one another and indicate the process of recycling and regeneration. 

Inspired by her time in New Orleans, Slice of Water is Belkin’s poetic response to the city’s relationship with water. Geographically located in an area, where the infrastructure has been constructed, supported, and destroyed by water, she explores the power and omnipresence of nature. The fluid quality of water is mimicked in her treatment of dyes - allowing the pigment to flow or be constricted within her embroidered shapes. 

Belkin’s practice is deeply rooted in environmental cognizance and sustainability. Drawing on the law of conservation of energy, which states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, she considers ways in which materiality is negotiated within the cosmos. Symbolized by her practice of recycling fabrics and images, Belkin reinforces this concept, constantly changing the state in which her materials and imagery are being engaged. In this way, she compels us to consider notions of how possessions live on long after they are gone from our lives. 

About Sophia Belkin
Sophia Belkin (b. 1990, Moscow, Russia) earned her BFA in drawing and printmaking from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2012. Belkin uses dye painting, embroidery and textile collage to create intricate and dynamic compositions that reference natural processes. She has presented solo exhibitions at OCHI in Los Angeles, Greenpoint Terminal Gallery in Brooklyn, and Resort in Baltimore. Recent group exhibitions include Tree and Leaf at Hannah Barry in London, and In Perpetuum at Setareh in Dusseldorf. She has participated in residency programs through the Rogaland Kunstsenter, Vermont Studio Center, Narva Art Residency, and ACRE. Sophia currently lives and works in Baltimore, Maryland.