2022 Getty Marrow Intern — Sophia Li

We are pleased to introduce our 2022 Getty Marrow Undergraduate Intern, Sophia Li.

Sophia is a rising senior at Otis College of Art and Design, majoring in Product Design and minoring in Contemporary Clay. She spent the first half of her life in Beijing, China. Growing up, Sophia’s mom was obsessed with art, collecting antiques and taking her to museums. It is no wonder both she and her sister are interested in pursuing a career in the creative realm. Sophia had the privilege of taking art lessons from a young age, having her little canvas next to her mom’s full size canvas, oil painting in their home. Sophia’s current artwork incorporates her cultural influences along with nostalgic elements from her childhood and upbringing.

Having experienced the isolation of online school during the pandemic, Sophia began to value the significance of human interaction and connection, the irreplaceable mode of in-person learning, and the impact of her work environment. She felt like she missed out on the “taken for granted”, the “just a Saturday night”, and the “spontaneous boba hangouts”— the seemingly mundane moments. As a result, Sophia picked up the hobby of film photography. Film allowed her to document these moments precious to her life, imitating the photos she found in her parent’s photo albums. 

As the Getty Marrow Undergraduate intern at Craft in America, Sophia hopes to learn all about the behind the scenes of the organization, to learn about what part Craft in America plays in the art community, and how to connect people to artists— how to inspire and introduce community members to crafts. Craft in America’s mission is to increase the knowledge and understanding of handcrafted work, and Sophia hopes to play a part in this process of using digital media to inspire an appreciation of craft.