Selected Works
A curated display of my latest projects. My work is rooted in observation, emotional connection to nature, and interest in how natural life persists within spaces shaped by human culture, memory, architecture, and social experience.
About Sophie
Sophie Docalavich is a junior Studio Art major at Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina. Her work explores the relationship between nature, place, and society, often focusing on the ways living systems adapt and persist within environments shaped by human presence. Working across drawing, painting, and mixed media, she is particularly interested in observation, symbolism, and the emotional connections between ecological and constructed spaces.
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In the summer of 2025, Sophie studied abroad in Venice, Italy through the Boston University Summer Study Abroad Program on scholarship. Her time in Venice strongly influenced her developing body of work, inspiring a series of paintings examining coexistence between urban environments, tourism, wildlife, and the natural world.
Prior to attending college, Sophie was homeschooled and spent many years volunteering at the Stanley Arts Center in Hampton, South Carolina, where she assisted with arts programming and the curation and installation of exhibitions. She is currently completing an internship in fine art conservation under the instruction of Dimitri Nedelcu at Universal Fine Art Conservation in Estill, South Carolina.
Sophie is particularly interested in international artist residencies that encourage cultural exchange, close observation of place, and engagement with environments that may be unfamiliar to many American audiences. Drawing from her background in both rural Southern communities and international travel, she approaches new environments through careful observation, research, and an interest in the ways culture, landscape, and daily life shape one another.