Sophie Teh

Sophie Teh is a painter who is interested in depicting familiar forms in unusual ways. In her paintings, recognisable objects and patterns are manipulated to explore how cultural conditioning and personal memories influence how we perceive and react to visual stimuli. Her work contains references from her earlier career in architecture and her South-East Asian Chinese culture.

As part of Teh's artistic investigation, she paints from her personal cultural memories. Having lived outside of Asia for almost 20 years, she draws from the ‘otherness’ of her Malaysian roots. Teh's work mines this cultural tension to generate work that challenges racial and cultural stereotypes.

The artist's work plays with both abstract and figurative themes. Neo-objects are employed to further push assumptions and the imagination.  Forms and colours are used to invite interpretations and dialogues and they are meant to ignite associations and emotions in the viewer. Teh believes that we cognitively and perceptually mesh with painting, and that there is a mutual activation. The resulting experience of this is generative and pushes viewers towards an understanding of their experiences.

Teh was born in Ipoh, Malaysia and currently lives and works in Barcelona and London.