Understanding Female Gaze with Sofia Haron

By Farhira Farudin

Born in Penang and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Sofia Haron is a full time artist whose works had been exhibited in various art galleries throughout the nation. Known as a rising star in the local art scene, Sofia Haron is commonly known to paint female models, each posed in certain emotions she’d like to capture, all in pastel colours.

Sofia Haron received her formal education in arts from Diploma in Art and Design (Fine Art) in UITM Shah Alam. When she first decided to pursue her studies in the respective field, her mum disagreed, worrying about her future career path. Instead of looking back, Sofia decided to stick to her dream and is now a full time artist with her own studio at Ara Damansara called as Seri Sofia Studio.

In her first ever solo exhibition titled “Eve”, she showcased a series of paintings which depicted female bodies, in diverse forms, with the intention to portray women as they are, through the perspective of a woman herself. Sofia agreed that the male gaze would often characterized female subjects wrongly, whether they are hyper-sexualized or simply toned down to background noise in their artworks. Through this exhibition, Sofia aimed to conform what it really means to be a woman, exploring the themes of empowerment, friendship and in some, jealousy.

When asked about the work she is most proud of, she mentioned a giant oil on canvas painting titled “Rest Deeply”. In the painting, seven women resting on the soft pink ground with their eyes closed, while wearing blue and white garments. The painting portrayed the feeling of tranquillity at its best, with the underlying theme of sisterhood is seen celebrated by looking at the women laying comfortably next to each other.

Sofia admits that her earlier works would revolve around drawing masculine figures but as years went by and her artistic skills had evolved, she realised her focus had been entirely shifted to female bodies due to the fact that she is intrigued in understanding herself and the relationship women have among each other. Sofia is fascinated by the concept of how women can be the strongest ally towards each other, but also can be the worst. This complex nature of female relationships are exactly what Sofia would take as main inspirations in her artwork.

Besides female relationships, Sofia would also traverse the theme of mental illness in her works. Struggling with depression herself, Sofia agrees the importance of reconciling with her personal traumas through her work, saying that painting for her is a form of self-healing mechanism.

Though it’s easy for the audience, especially female audience, to relate to her work, Sofia said that it was never her intention to turn her work into a form of propaganda, movement or a message. “As a woman of this time, I think it’s inevitable that my work might be relatable to other women although it isn’t my intention since the thought that goes into my paintings are mostly personal in nature and fuelled by my own need to understand myself and what the female energy is,” said Sofia in an interview.

Albeit she is still new in the industry, Sofia has slowly but surely paved her path to become a household name in the local arts scene. In 10 years time, she hopes that the art industry would be more open to everything that could possibly lead our industry to international level. Sofia too hopes that she could give back to the art community the same thing what art has given her; the freedom to express emotions freely through art.