interview Parenthesis Art Space

3Q: Sophia Chizuco interview by Luis Martin

January 18, 2016

1. What is your most memorable encounter with art?

When I was a child, about four years old, my parents took me to the Louvre in Paris. We went to see theMona Lisa and I touched it. My curiosity got me a lot of attention, I was immediately removed by a smiling security guard. My parents where amused and horrified. After that incident I became "the girl that touched the Mona Lisa". It carried a lot of weight.

2. Do your Japanese roots influence your work?

I voided making referenced to Japanese culture in my work because I wanted to learn and experience a new way of being. I even changed my name and started using "Sophia" but after the 2011 Fukushima earthquake I felt a need to own my Japanese roots.

3. Have you had any mentors?

Larry Poons influenced my work and the way I make art. He was my teacher at the Art Students League of New York. After receiving my B.A in Art and Education at Tokyo Gakugei Univercity in Japan I took classes there to further develop my art practice. I wanted to learn abstract painting so I took Larry's class. He is super crazy and very talented. In one sentence he could say a dozen "F" words without batting an eye. His class was a fun house. A lot of his lectures, which seemed to shock all the other women in the calls, was lost in translation for me. But, he always gave me good energy. I would visit Japan and when I returned to Larry's class he noticed that the experience had shrunk me, in my work and in my demeanor. His class opened me up and he said I should not go back. While I do visit home, his insight has made me a stronger Artists in every way.

3 1/2. One more questions... What does that little Mona Lisa girl want to touch?

She want to touch Jeff Koon's play dough, but it was to be real so I can make something myself.

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Don't miss Twine "0116" Sophia Chizuco's fist solo project in NYC on view at

Parenthesis Art Space January 21 through Feburary 16, 2016.

Vist the Artist's website at SophiaChizuco.com

http://www.parenthesisspace.com/#!3Q-Sophia-Chizuco/c112t/569cef260cf2ff2c456a854c