About

Sophia Alana is a multidisciplinary artist and educator working in video, sculpture, and performance. Sophia's recent work investigates personal themes of queer longing and desire. She aims to create connections and empathy in her artwork by using past personal narratives interwoven with stories from queer literature and queer cinema. Her recent show ...a perpetual sunrise, investigates personal themes of queer longing and desire through video installation and sculpture.

Sophia's work as an educator and an artist both influence one another. As an educator, Sophia introduces pedagogical initiatives that reframe education as care by encouraging radical vulnerability within herself and her students. She also emphasizes the process of unlearning, which is closely tied to her growing up queer in the American South and undoing the influence of oppressive structures and constructs.

Sophia graduated in 2016 with a BFA from Watkins College of Art, Design, and Film with a concentration in sculpture. During her time at Watkins, she founded the Nashville Feminist Art Collective, a group focused on analyzing feminist movements and hosting discussions regarding first, second, and third-wave historical feminist texts. Culminating in a group exhibition at Kent State University entitled Point of Reference, this collective helped her gain a firm grasp on the intersection of art, feminism, and queer theory, which has continued to influence her practice immensely. She recently graduated in 2022 with an MFA from USC Roski's School of Art and Design. Sophia is the recipient of the Post-Graduate Teaching fellowship and is currently teaching at the University of Southern California. 

Sophia’s art has been included in exhibitions, including The Skin I Live In at Lyles & King in New York (NY) and UTA Artist Space in Beverly Hills (CA). She also performed in Nao Bustamante's Wooden People, which layers ancient myths on the familiar melodrama of the telenovela, while grappling with ideas of queer existence, love, and a connection to the cosmos at REDCAT in LA (CA).