266. Sophie Smorczewski - Blue hangs between my toes

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).