perfect day

been up in my angst A LOT for the first 10 days of 2016 but today i had such a lovely carefree day. it was so nice, i woke up super early n went to tate modern alone, listened 2 music + walked around central london. and it was rly quiet in the city and rainy but still beautiful. i bought some scissors on the way home and chopped off half my hair (got it all even eventually.. it was messy) and i am feeling my new hair v much (see standard Photo Booth selfie at end of post 4 hair). i just got home from my friends bday dinner and it was super sweet <33 + to end the day i got my first uni offer ahhhh (hopefully not the last tho lol).

not bad 4 a monday

lorna simpson at tate modern today

simryn gill 

I LOVED HER SERIES OF PHOTOG EXPLORING "THE EXOTIC" how ppl in malaysia / east are often called exotic n stuff ('exotic' labels r for fruits not ppl right??) and i smiled so much looking at this whole room of ppl with fruit on their heads damn.

had a weird AM this morning before i properly woke up but maybe cos after i said 2 myself/texted my friend this morning, it was okay:

tbh been a weird few weeks. but I'm good now. giving space to both myself and others. loving in new ways. loving myself first (which is important).

thing i wrote in late november/early december?? about recovery, excerpt from something that went a bit like this:

'i am feeding myself, regaining balance and all the qualities i deeply love about my being'

feeling this idea a lot right now too, just for different reasons.

ya girl n her new DIY hair

rupi kaur's poetry is healing. everyone go read her work on her instagram @rupikaur_

finally gonna leave y'all with this poem. its been my favourite for a while. i relate to a lot of it and it breaks my heart every time i listen to/watch it. carrying this spirit into 2016.

"One day I plan to love so loudly, my body abandons every demon harvesting me."

love always,

sophia

(i deleted my insta temporarily. and sula collective is on hiatus this month btw)

summer so quickly gone

it's mid august. aka school in less than half a month. exam results on thursday (scary). summer went by so quickly, i swear it just began ??? probably because i disappeared away from friends and into asia for a month and a half. i was working in hong kong for a few weeks then travelling with family to macau, hangzhao and macau. it was mostly fun because i met lots of new people (always gd) and took lots of photos (on film) although generally my creativity and writing wasn't really happening when i was away. working for the first time was really scary / interesting / fun and people were really nice and i got paid so !!!

i go to hong kong every yr because i have family there but i guess i never really appreciated its beauty. Because i had gone so many times, i had grown tired of the city. and then i fell in love with Ward Roberts' courts series- a beautiful collection of pastel colored buildings and uniformed courts. a series i later found out was mostly shot in hong kong. then when i returned this summer, i looked up and realized these wonderful colours i admired in roberts' work so much were right in front of me, painted on all the buildings. i also went to some old casinos in macau and the decor was so 70s glamour (that was probably because that's when they were designed) and it reminded me of lana del rey songs.

this summer i tried to at least go to lots art exhibitions, one was in Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art. others included Matisse cut-outs at the Tate which I thought were playful and lively and very contemporary considering when they were created. AND I went to Jenny Saville at the Gagosian which was incredible to see her art IRL. her paintings are mesmerising and intriguing and to some, uncomfortable. but i love the honesty and rawness of her subjects and that disordered glitchy feel. i don't know how she does it, it's amazing.

another one i went to was Marina Abramovic's 512 Hours. i guess i had high expectations because of all the hype about the artist but really i didn't know what to expect. the experience was really interesting and i'm so glad i went. when i went in, i was quite nervous because everything was silent and i could see Marina right in front of me walking around and talking to other people but when i left, i was at peace, happy, rested, empty yet full. many people were emotional and personally, i think it has to do with the silence and the emptiness and the lack of anything to do. the boredom forces people's minds to think about anything which, if given a long enough time, can turn to darker thoughts and evoke sadder (or happier) memories. when the sound is muted and the eyes are closed and any sense of direction gone, you have only your mind left and so you think and think and think.

Ward Roberts courts series

Jenny Saville @ Gagosian

Matisse cut outs

p.s. i got a haircut and my film will be developed next week. i'll also post some writings sometime in the week. oh and i changed my url to teenagecomplex and saying goodbye to zszophia :-)

S