Sophie M.

Stitches and Stabs
Credit: Sophie M.Artist Bio

Sophie is a third-year art therapy graduate student at Lewis & Clark, interning at the Community Living Center in the VA hospital for the 2025-2026 academic year. She is working with long-term inpatient rehab, hospice, and palliative care Veterans. She is a fiber and collage artist whose work blends texture and colors to create layered compositions. Working intuitively, she works to explore connection, how bits and pieces can be worked together to create something new. She focuses heavily on process, taking the time to embrace the process rather than having the focus on the product.  

Artist Statement

Vivid red marking on its chest serves as a symbol of carrying visible tenderness. Acknowledging the wounds we hold and the care we offer others, and of the courage it takes to remain openhearted through moments of challenge and growth. This is what my internship experience has been for me. The bleeding heart dove is the heart of my piece, guiding me with strength to keep going. Through crocheting, I found grounding in the rhythms of my internship experience. I then needle felted images that reflect both the emotional weight and transformation I have undergone while learning what it means to show up for Veterans. Within these soft, tactile fibers lies a process that others would never see or think of. The rhythm of repetitive stabs, the quiet crocheting, the occasional prinking of a finger, the careful handling of sharp tools. These often unseen and unthought of moments are not to be forgotten. These unseen moments matter when we step back to view the whole piece, just as they matter when we meet a person. We don’t always see the difficult parts, soft moments, the repetitive stabs, and quiet pricks. We only see the individual in front of us. We must, and I must, remember the unseen bits and pieces that are woven together to make whole they are.