Brompton artist Ida Sophia performs her show Regret in response to dad’s death
A Brompton woman sitting silently in her studio in a marathon artistic endeavour this month says visitors are uncovering deeply personal meanings.
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Sitting in a chair and watching in silence as a display of live flowers slowly decays, Ida Sophia embodies the regret she links to her father’s death for six hours a day as a form of art.
“It deals with the regret I have of not being present with my father in his final months,” Ida, 31, said.
“I was 24 and I didn’t have the courage to watch him decay, his body go through that process.”
Her father passed away from an aggressive, widespread cancer at age 52 in October 2013.
For the month of June, the Brompton artist is performing her show, Regret, at the Floating Goose Studios on Morphett Street from 12pm until 6pm everyday.
“I don’t get up from the seat … I just hold that space for others,” she said.
“It’s quite palpable when people come and sit and just really take the time to sit with their regrets.”
People are invited to pass through the space for however long they like, and write down a regret on a piece of material to be hooked on to Ida’s clothes as she sits.
“So that I can metaphorically, symbolically, and physically take on the weight for them and help them carry that.”
A stethoscope plays Ida’s heartbeat during the show, and salt was added to the water the flowers are in, to symbolise the tears people share in their regret.
“It’s such a unique beast, grief is for everybody … it’s an innate human thing, and it really has helped me come to a place of peace,” she said.
“I don't feel sad anymore, I feel grateful that he was my dad.”
Ida has work in performance art and sculpting has taken her around the globe, including Italy and Bulgaria.
The show is the last of eight art instalments that each have embodied a different form of grief.
Supported by the Arts South Australia, Adelaide City Council and independent Arts Foundation, the show is free, and will run until June 29.
For more information, visit eventbrite.com.au/e/regret-28-day-durational-performance-by-ida-sophia-tickets-151143096069
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