SOPHIA SØRHOLT
Anything but the kitchen sink
09.01 - 08.02.25
ISCA Gallery is pleased to present Anything but the kitchen sink, a solo exhibition by Sophia Sørholt from January 10th to February 8th, 2025.
Sørholt draws inspiration from memories of her childhood kitchen—a space transformed by her own mother’s trolldeig handicrafts, a pliable dough popular in Norway for crafting sculptures. She shaped household produce into decorative compositions: fruit baskets, bouquets, and other ornamental arrangements. Painted with vibrant hobbylack and rich in texture, these handmade pieces complemented the fruit-themed tile backsplash, cramming the kitchen with nostalgia, evoking a perception of comfort.
The phrase “everything but the kitchen sink” evokes an image of excess and abundance, suggesting that nearly everything imaginable has been included, with little restraint. It can reflect a maximalist approach, where layers of colors, textures, and ideas are piled together to create something deliberately overwhelming and chaotic. Sørholt subverts this by replacing the ‘every’ with an ‘any’ in the phrase, meaning that some things are best left out. The lack of focus, overindulgence in ornamentation and unnecessary details can hide the more significant or valuable things lying beneath.
Through this exhibition, Sørholt invites the viewer to step into a world where artistry and memory intertwine. Her paintings serve as a reminder of the balance between inclusion and intention—of knowing when more is meaningful, and when it simply becomes too much.
Sophia Sørholt (b. 1996) is an Oslo based artist who has developed a rich visual language through painting on her own accord. With traces of art historical movements in her work such as abstract expressionism and CoBrA, her paintings are filled with flat, playful forms, rough outlines and thick paint. A distinct vibrancy and spontaneity are transmitted through her work, created by her bold application of color, thickly impasto paint surfaces, and energetic and playful compositions. Sørholt works in a highly intuitive manner, paying attention to the slightest nuances of color, their different shades and hues, and how they interact with one another. Greens, oranges and yellows seem to vibrate in proximity to each other, shaped in soft-rounded puzzle like forms. The materiality of the surface is almost palpable as the heavy layers of paint undulating on the surface of the canvas, evidence to the movement and brushstrokes of the artist. Recent exhibitions include Color Counselling For a Broken Home, Hos Arne, Oslo (2023); Ace of Pentacles, ISCA Gallery, Oslo (2023); Kösk Backlogs, Kösk, Oslo (2021); Faen, Hos Arne, Oslo (2021); GIFC, Galleri Golsa, Oslo (2019); Bløde Fugler med Henrik Mikkelsgård, Brutus, Oslo (2018). Sørholt lives and works in Oslo.
