Jan 9, 2021
For my exhibition design concept I have chosen the portrait of Sophia Sturge (1918) by Lawrence Deller. I chose this painting as I found the duality of its two stories intriguing. There is the story of the subject, Sophia Sturge, an activist, abolitionist, suffragette, philanthropist, teacher and heroine. And the is the story of the unseen artist behind the piece, Lawrence Deller, a conscientious objector that was sent to Dartmoor Prison during WWI for standing up for his pacifist beliefs and who sadly lost his life because of the conditions C.O.s were put in. This painting separates them as well as links them and has so much to say.