Sophia Leighton is a Bay Area artist, born and raised in Martinez, California. She received an AA in Studio Art from Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, CA, and a BA in Studio Art at San Francisco State University.
Artist Statement
My work attempts to grasp an intangible aspect of human feeling, maintaining a focus on the most ugly, intense, and palpable infestations of my emotion. By manipulating the instability and rawness of materials such as charcoal, oil, and clay, I create humanoid, often self-referential figures to serve as extensions of myself. Through these creations, I am able to purge my true body of these emotional infestations; I rip, tug, drag, carve, and gut the forms, aiming to transmit an immediate sense of physicality through my chosen mediums. Consequently, the work leaves little room for negotiation. The content begs to be absorbed at once, forcing these depicted physical sensations onto the viewer with haste, leaving them with the same dragging in their gut, a stretching of their frown, ultimately bridging the gap between intangible emotions and physical sensation.
Artist CV
Education
2025 BA with Honors in Studio Art, San Francisco State, San Francisco, CA
2023 AA with Honors in Studio Art, Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, CA
Exhibitions
2025 Life Lines, Martin Wong Gallery, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
2025 Objects of Inquiry: The Office for the Study of the Ordinary, Fine Arts Gallery, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
2025 Solo Exhibition, Gutting the Visceral, Martin Wong Gallery, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
2024 37th Annual Stillwell Student Exhibition, Fine Arts Gallery, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
2023 Art and the Machine: AI and the Creative Process, DVC Art Gallery, Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, CA
2023 Student Art Show, DVC Art Gallery, Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, CA
Grants/Awards
2025 Barry Stipend Award, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
2024 First Place Painting, GodzillaFest 2024, Chicago, IL
2023 Concord Arts Association Scholarship, Concord, CA
Commissions
2015-2025 Private commission work for 50+ individual clients, including acrylic painting, charcoal and graphite drawings.
2024 Single cover art, The Silent Kind, Monarchy of Roses
2025 Album cover art, Bleeding Over, Monarchy of Roses
Related Experience
2025 Teaching Artist, Walnut Creek Center for Community Arts, Walnut Creek, CA
2024 Monster Island Arts, Art vending booth, GodzillaFest, San Francisco, CA
2023 AI: Art and the Machine, Exhibition Installation, DVC Art Gallery, Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, CA
2023 Sabbatical Art Projects: Leo Bersamina, Exhibition Installation, DVC Art Gallery, Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, CA
2023 Art Instructor, Global Arts San Ramon, San Ramon, CA
2021-2022 Art Instructor, Young Rembrandts, East Bay, CA
Sophia Leighton 