CLOSE FRIENDS WITH: SOPHIE DHERBECOURT

In this interview, we delve into the world of Sophie Dherbecourt, who share her inspirations and unique perspectives.

Introduce Yourself to the Casawi Community: What drives you? What's your artistic vision, and what sets you apart from the crowd?

Hi Casawi I'm Sophie a French painter based in London and I thrive on feverish dreams, surrealism and things that are a little difficult to explain. I love creating paintings that capture the intangible, the shapeshifting and the moments when something starts to transform into something else. I'm drawn to what we can't quite put our finger on the things that exist somewhere between reality and imagination. I like to think of my paintings as little invitations down the rabbit hole. I want people to feel like I know a spot and take them to the most ethereal, lush, dark and numinous place. Somewhere familiar enough to recognise but strange enough to make you question what you're looking at. If my paintings can make someone feel like they've stumbled upon a secret place in themselves or experienced a feeling they couldn't quite name before then I'm happy.

City Inspirations: How has your city influenced your artistic path? Share how its streets, culture, and energy have molded your work.

When I talk about the dark, numinous, lush, and ethereal, I think of London too. Living here has helped me embrace a stranger, angelic side of myself. I love the ghosts this city seems to carry, its Victorian legacy, the gothic architecture, and the feeling that there's always something hiding just beneath the surface. London has been transformative for me, both personally and creatively. It's a city of contradictions: it can give you so much but it can also take a lot out of you. It can make your world feel enormous or incredibly small, depending on the day, or perhaps on how brave you're willing to be. There's something about its energy that makes room for so many different versions of yourself. It's punk and delicate, rough around the edges yet incredibly romantic, deeply urban but always connected to nature. Since moving here, I've felt my work, my sense of risk and the subjects I'm drawn to evolving alongside me. I'm learning to embrace those contradictions rather than trying to resolve them, both in my life and in my paintings.

Creative Process: What fuels your creativity? Whether it's a ritual, a muse, or a moment of clarity, we're keen to learn.

I try to keep a nourishing cultural diet. I read, watch films, listen to a lot of music, and try to stay open and porous to everything around me: light, colours, people, feelings, rhythms, little moments that might seem insignificant at first. I have an addictive relationship with beauty and admiration. I love admiring people, especially my friends and other artists. I'm fascinated by their work, their brains, the way they see the world and how they arrive at the things they create. I think being around people who are passionate about what they do is incredibly contagious. It makes me want to go back to my studio and find my own way of translating that energy. When something really moves me, I get this urge to capture it somehow. It's almost like trying to preserve an essence, the way a perfumer tries to capture a scent or keeping a tiny lock of someone's hair in a locket. You can't really hold on to the original feeling but you can make something that carries a trace of it. I think that's often what I'm trying to do with painting.

City Lifestyle and Art: How the places you lived influenced your career and work?

I spent eight years in Paris, which was such an important chapter for me. It taught me a lot about the art world, the people in it, the networks and how everything works behind the scenes. It also gave me the opportunity to work with brands I genuinely love, which has been a lovely way of bringing my background in graphic design and art direction into my painting practice. I think Paris has influenced my work more than I sometimes realise, particularly in the way I approach composition, clothing, and poses. There's often something quite still or even passive about the faces in my paintings and I think there's a relationship to fashion in that: the way a figure can become an image, a silhouette, or a character, without necessarily telling you everything about what's going on inside them. Paris gave me a certain appreciation for elegance and visual language, while London is opening up other, perhaps stranger, parts of my practice. I'm still discovering what that means, but I love the idea that each city leaves something behind in you. You don't necessarily notice it happening until you look back at your work and realise you've changed.

Latest or Upcoming Projects: Give us a glimpse into your current endeavors and what lies ahead on your creative journey.

I'm currently working on a series inspired by the Major Arcana, which has been incredibly exciting and mind-opening. It's still very much cooking, so I can't reveal too much just yet but the first few paintings already feel really precious to me. There's something about working with these archetypes that opens up so many possibilities. I'm interested in how they can become starting points for something personal, strange, and entirely my own, rather than fixed symbols with one definitive meaning. The paintings feel like portals into a new realm, and I'm still discovering what's on the other side. I can't wait to share more soon <3