2024 Merit Scholarship Recipient: Sophia Marcus

Describe the work you submitted for merits.

For MPR, I created an altar dedicated to the "God of the Back Forty." I've always been tied to rural farming communities in one way or another -- living there for undergrad, visiting my grandparents farm in West-Central MN, etc. -- and I have a deep fascination with rural ecologies. Rural farming regions are some of the few places where livelihood is still dependent on the land. As such, the shape of human-environment interactions in rural communities frequently centers around a stick-to-it love that makes no effort to overcome the wind, rain, or dust. In rural contexts, humans – much like the natural world they inhabit – dedicate themselves to wearing things thin, and using things until their last breath. "God of the Back Forty," seeks to immortalize these interactions and glory them as something turbulent but bewitching. Using primarily second-hand items and relics from my rural experience, I created a shrine to the god of the fallow land, the back forty acres. Smaller altars on either side of the shrine are offered to “lost objects” and “forgotten artifacts,” referencing the dichotomy of those manufactured items we lose or choose to discard (respectively). The back panel features two eagles carrying a pig, a lost creature from an industrial farm. This ecosystem of stuff hopes to highlight the toil of the natural world, the footprint of humanity, and the tragic beauty of these decaying interactions.

What made you choose to come to MCAD for your MFA?

I was excited about the mentor-based aspect of the program and the interdisciplinary focus. Because I was (and am still) figuring out the shape of my work, I wanted to be surrounded by all sorts of people doing all sorts of different things. MCAD seemed like an excellent community of people to work alongside.

What inspires you?

I love learning about the history of land and the people on it. The dirt will always find a way into my work. :)

Do you have a favorite piece you've made? Describe it!

My favorite piece is a work I made Junior year of undergrad, called "Late Spring." There was a robin that flew into the window of my apartment on a spring day, and had subsequently died. That same spring, I had visited the Cowles Pavilion in the Walker Sculpture Garden, and found 6 or so robins dead underneath the glass. I was transfixed by their innocence, so I created a painting depicting it as a martyr of the late springtime. The piece is primarily found objects -- a deer jawbone, a zebra-print carpet fabric frame, letter beads, a tiny bee, tinfoil, can tabs, pennies, and a plastic bag halo.

Anything you're obsessed with at the moment?

Right now, horses. My fourth grade horse-girl era is having a big resurgence. I'm also loving topographic quadrangle maps, vintage Strawberry Shortcake figurines, and duck decoys.