The work: Sophie Underwood, Yellow, 2022. Print of original collage using vintage fabric, applique and embroidery, 82 x 92cm. Courtesy: the artist.
“My work is a testament to how symbols are vital seeds, living carriers of possibility,” says Tasmanian artist Sophie Underwood. In her work Yellow, we see one of seven mandalas from a larger series depicting each colour of the rainbow. Executed using collage, these flowers were individually cut from a huge range of vintage fabrics and then individualised using paint and embroidery, before finally being brought together in a celebratory bouquet. This choice of materials is reflective of her as an artist and as an individual, one who adores symbolism, colour, and advocating for environmentally friendly approaches to art and art making. The mandala is representative of the self as well as the earth as a whole, emphasising the interconnectivity of the planet as one living organism, and feeding into the artist’s activism on behalf of Tasmania’s natural environment and heritage. Alongside this macro cosmology, this configuration of mandalas and florals is reflective of the Kastellorizian bouklas, a buckle traditionally decorated with flowers that is widely found on the tiny Grecian Island from which the artist has recently found she hails from. As such, Yellow is an exercise in interconnectivity, between the self and the planet; between one’s instinct and one’s heritage.