Artist Bio

Sophie Diehl is a junior at Allendale Columbia School. Based in Rochester, she has traveled throughout the United States and Canada, as well as the Caribbean. Her favorite place to visit is Algonquin Park. Sophie began taking an interest in art at a very young age, and has worked in a variety of mediums. Sophie’s love for animals and nature, as well as her work in the human form, play an infinitely large part of informing her work. Sophie has participated in many Evening of the Arts events at Allendale Columbia School, as well as AC’s Empty Bowls event to raise money for charity. She has taken various studio classes at the Memorial Art Gallery, and has participated in an art camp and exhibition at Nazareth College. One of her pieces was chosen by RIT’s “Start Here” exhibition to win the Fine Art Studio Award from RIT’s faculty and another of her works won a Scholastic Silver Key award. Sophie also enjoys other creative activities, such as baking and writing. She hopes to continue her work in art in the coming years, and to study some form of art in college.

Thesis Statement

Ever since my aunt taught me how to sew in first grade, sewing a dress has always been a dream of mine, but until this year, one that did not feel attainable to me. For my thesis project, I wanted to explore sewing in a way that I never had before, and put a twist on it to create something that felt timeless and romantic, but also creative and somewhat unexpected.Throughout the course of this project, I have worked with several mediums. The thought behind my dress ended up being a culmination of all the mediums I have worked with this year, and years past, while adding something new. I have been working on an Impressionist style of painting this year, inspired by historical artwork, and the fluid design on the bodice of the dress reflects and informs that. I discovered how to work with paint on fabric, and that a gesso colored with acrylic paint produced the most flexible and opaque result. I have also investigated a couple different mediums while working on this project, including gesso, acrylic paint, fabric paint, and fabric/sewing. These mediums and skills fit my purpose as the base design is the type of sewing project that I had never previously dared to take on, and the painting on the bodice adds a feature that I found unique.

For this project, I knew that I wanted to stick to a romantic silhouette that flowed well and conveyed movement. I was influenced by the period feeling of the dress from Disney’s Anastasia, as well as theI Impressionist movement. So it felt natural to have a ballgown style dress. As my process developed, I continued to research different painters such as Monet, as well as sewing and construction techniques. The pattern that I used for this project was from WhiBeArts on Etsy, and I worked with her pretty closely in the beginning of my sewing process. She was able to answer many of my questions as I bought the fabric for the dress, and began sewing. Another resource that I referenced frequently was Mrs. Sanguinetti here at AC. We met almost every week while I worked on the project, and she helped me use the sewing machine correctly, measure seam allowance, and work through any additional questions that I had.

My study has changed and influenced my decision-making process significantly. I had to make sure I knew what I was doing, but I could also experiment and dive in much faster than I had anticipated. Previously, I had been very hesitant to start a project that felt daunting, especially if it was a big or important project. The timeline of this project did not really allow for that kind of hesitation, which ended up being a blessing. I learned a lot through the process of sewing this project. Before doing this, I had hardly used a sewing machine in any capacity. It forced me to take a risk, and stray from my typical and natural inclination to plan heavily. Through this project, the knowledge I accumulated is truly priceless. I am a much more capable seamstress now, and discovered a new and renewed passion for sewing. My painting skills have also improved, and the knowledge I am taking away from this project has been truly surprising and definitely welcomed.

Gallery

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“Nymphaea,” machine- and hand-sewn ballgown dress with an original painting on the bodice inspired by Claude Monet’s water lilies.