Sophie Duez

Sophie Duez (b. 2003) is a multidisciplinary surrealist portrait artist working in Norwich, UK. Duez earned her First-Class Honours degree in Illustration from Falmouth University, and 2 months later was offered her first solo show. She has exhibited in group shows across the UK and internationally, including California & Oregon.

Living with double vision has profoundly shaped her practice, where a love for detail developed quickly after she discovered that working close up actually eased her condition. Inspired by the meticulous rendering and quiet symbolism of the Dutch Golden Age painters, and in particular their focus on texture and light, Sophie’s work reflects a fascination with presence and impermanence, where she morphs the hyper-real with the surreal. She admires how they sought to preserve something permanent, even as decay crept in. That same tension exists in her own work- built up with layers of graphite or oil paint, and informed by the distortions of her vision. Duez employs meticulous detail to render figures that feel tangible yet transient, as if caught in a moment of quiet transformation. For Sophie, an artwork is complete only when it elicits an emotional responsecuriosity, discomfort, or even unease. The reaction completes the piece. Her hope is that viewers take the time to look closer, and to question the way they see things too.