Born in 1981 in Tbilisi, Sophie Ko Chkheidze is a Georgian-born visual artist who lives and works in Milan.
After graduating from the Tbilisi and Brera Academies of Fine Arts, she has exhibited at the Marino Marini Museum in Italy, as well as in France, Germany and Argentina. In 2016, she won the first prize of painting at the Lissone Museum of Contemporary Art, curated by Alberto Zanchetta.
Sophie Ko's work is closely linked to Arte Povera, with Claudio Parmiggiani among her major influences. One of the recurring themes in her work is the concept of time and its effect on matter, which, for Sophie Ko, acquires a transcendental quality. By focusing on the very temporality of the image and the evolution of organic matter, Sophie Ko explores the interplay between creation and destruction.
Through powerful symbols, she makes visible the non-linear passage of time and the influence of natural forces such as gravity. Everything that makes images resist, such as the ashes of burnt images, and matter fall, such as earth or pigments, forms the support for her work.