Sophy Naess
For centuries, male artists have painted bathing women as objects of desire. Sophy Naess re-imagines that motif using sharp humor, bold color, and deft appropriation, presenting a vivid, feminist tableau where leisure, labor, and art history intersect.
This mural-scale scene is composed of three silk panels that are stenciled, hand-painted, and stitched together. Created as an edition of two, one resides in the artist's home and one is available here. This work inspired the Bathers print.
More About this Artwork
Additional Information
Medium
Fiber reactive dye on silk
Authentication
Sophy Naess Supporters Circle label at upper right corner
Shipping
Find details on our process and policies on the shipping and returns page.
This work ships rolled with accompanying stretcher bars, to be assembled on receipt.
Meet Sophy Naess
Sophy Naess's artistic output reflects a life lived with enthusiasm. Using painting, weaving, and printmaking, she explores diaristic moments that reflect broadly on shared human experience.
Sophy Naess Exhibitions
For her exhibition The Bathers at Palisades Park (King Spa), Sophy Naess presents a monumental mural on silk that re-imagines the classical bather motif in a contemporary spa setting. Merging art history with everyday ritual, the work immerses viewers in a vivid, feminist tableau where leisure, labor, and art history intersect.
Sophy Naess's botanical paintings, prints, and weavings capture the restless vitality of fleeting subjects, balancing spontaneity with formal precision. Moving fluidly across mediums, Naess explores the tension between immediacy and structure, celebrating the ephemeral beauty of life as it unfolds and fades.
Sophy Naess Films
Sophy Naess reflects on The Bathers at Palisades Park (King Spa), her sweeping mural on silk that incorporates art historical references into a rendition of a Korean spa. Reworking the bather motif through a feminist lens, she layers bold hues into a scene where leisure, labor, and art intersect.
Watch Sophy Naess bring a floral painting to life and discuss how weaving has transformed her improvisational approach to composition and form. In her studio, Naess navigates the tension between immediacy and structure, capturing the fleeting beauty of life as it unfolds and inevitably fades away.