266. Sophie Smorczewski - Blue hangs between my toes
AOAP Projects x Royal Society of Arts Summer Show
2026
Oil on oak
8 x 10 x 2 cm
Sophie Smorczewski makes paintings that feel like the afterimage of a remembered garden. She describes them as “greenhouses”, spaces where small moments become heightened and quietly charged with atmosphere. Working primarily in oil paint, she often experiments with materiality, collecting and incorporating natural materials into the surface of the works.
Smorczewski is currently completing an MFA in Painting at the Slade School of Fine Art, London (2023–2025), following a BA (Hons) in Fine Art (Painting) at Manchester School of Art (2018–2021).
Recent exhibitions include Sown in Slumber at LAMB, London (solo, 2026); The Blue of Distance at SETERAH, Berlin (2026); A Sleeping Garden Still Grows at the Slade School of Art, London (solo, 2025); Cure-All at Relish, London (2025); Natural Recall at Arden + White Gallery, Connecticut, USA (2025); Immaterial at Soho Revue, London (2025); Through the Splinters at Silian Gallery, London (2025); Moving Principal at Arusha Gallery, London (2025); and I’m Rooted but I Flow at The Art Office, London (2025).
Awards include the Student Painting Award for the Slade School of Art from Cass Art (2025) and the Manchester Academy of Fine Art Award (2021).
Blog posts
Meet the Artist: Marcelle Hanselaar
I spent the 60’s and 70’s off the beaten track, mostly in Asia so pop music was not part of my world. I was, still am, into Jazz and Classical World music, so Paul McCartney did not have an impact on me. But reading the title, I liked the weirdness of the line and being that it was selected by War Child it brought up straight away exploding images for me.
Meet the Artist: Diana Copperwhite
