10 → Biography
Sculptor who works with words
Sofya Chibisguleva (previously known as Studio SFCH) is an artist, writer, researcher, and curator.
Her artistic practice is commentary on the subject of contemporary dislocation—from displacement (or misplacement) of meaning and ethics to forced immigration and cultural appropriation. All her projects are products of extensive research work, drawing nods from political science fiction, psycholinguistics, comparative literature, conflict history, and architecture.
Once completed, this research work becomes embodied in a continuous series of mixed media artworks (installations, sculptures, video art, fiction, and lore).
The key dynamic, which weaves Sofya’s projects into an entirety of artistic practice, is the tension between the embodied and the spoken. From threats to spaces.
She strongly believes that the future of contemporary art lies outside the white cube, and thus works to spread dialogue through publicly available means, like audiobooks and street installations. In 2016, she has founded Studio SFCH—a 1-person collective—which over the course of 4 years has self-published and presented a number of publications (including those of external artists) and took part in London Art Book Fair (2018), representing socially-engaged narratives in artist books. From 2018, Sofya performed frequent lectures on socially-engaged curation and writing, namely, as an artist-in-residence at the Bidston Observatory (2018, UK), Zengården (2019, Sweden).
From 2018, she has been a member and a co-founder of The Mainline Group art duo, together with Dr. Elena Kilina.
Sofya holds a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design (2016, UK), a Diploma in Professional Studies from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design (2015, UK), an MA in Public Sphere: Contemporary Art Practice from Royal College of Art (Distinction, 2018, UK) and an Erasmus Exchange Certificate from ArtScience Interfaculty (KABK and Royal Conservatoire, The Hague, 2014).
She is the recepient of PHACT Art Prize (2019) and Hungarian Contemporary Art Prize (2023).