Known for her quiet and subtle style, Sophia Dixon Dillo reduces elements into a simplified approach of repetition in order to explore the contrast between substance/insubstantiality and material/immateriality. She creates works that bring attentiveness to the present moment by celebrating the ephemerality of phenomena through the incorporation of light as a medium. Her works simultaneously reveal and conceal their components, often creating a sense of dissolution of the solidity of objects through the use of translucence, reflection, refraction, layering, and repetition. Dillo’s works are best appreciated over time due to the dynamism light brings to them. In a world fixated on permanence, her work defies stasis, and reminds us of the natural cycle of things as they come and go.
Dillo’s minimal approach and attention to the subtleties of light have roots in her upbringing. From an early age she learned to observe the minute details of the world around her by watching her father Willard Dixon, an artist and Zen practitioner, work in his studio. Dillo now lives with her husband at a Zen Center in the mountains of Colorado. The peace and seclusion of her work place influences her art – quiet, spatial, sensorial, and participatory. Dillo exhibits and is collected throughout the U.S. and internationally. In 2015 she did an installation for the Calvin Klein Collection in New York City made from 83 miles of copper thread for their holiday window. ArtWeek.LA chose her solo exhibit, Emergence, as a “Pick of the Week”. Dillo was also recognized as a notable Colorado artist with an invitation to participate in Colorado Women in Abstraction at the Center for Visual Arts in Denver. ''
Education
2006-09
MFA, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
2001
Lacoste Ecole des Arts, Lacoste, France
1996-2000
BA in Philosophy, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2018
Alliterations, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2017 I
llumination, Winterowd Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
2015
Light & Form, Galerie Fatiha Selam, Paris, France
Forming Light – Holiday Installation, Calvin Klein Collection on
Madison Avenue, New York, NY
Light & Shadow, Shumei International Institute, Crestone, CO
Light Space, The Lincoln Center, Fort Collins, CO
2014
Emergence, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2012
Translucence, Space Gallery, Denver, CO
Forming Light VI Installation and New Boxes, Winterowd Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2011
Light and Line, Ice Cube Gallery, Denver, CO
Light and Line, Vertical Arts Gallery, Steamboat Springs, CO
2010
Light Works, Ice Cube Gallery, Denver, CO
2008
Small Works, Shumei International Institute, Crestone, CO
Implexities II, Bovine Theater Gallery, Denver, CO
2007
Forming Light II Installation, Morgan Library, CSU, Fort Collins, CO
Forming Light Installation, Mini Gallery, CSU, Fort Collins, CO
2006
Side by Side, St. Luke’s Gallery, Fort Collins, CO
Selected Group Exhibitions
2020
Rising Light, Andra Norris Gallery, Burlingame, CA
Winter Group Show, Mai Wyn Fine Art, Denver, CO
2019
Colorado Abstract +10, Arvada Center for the Arts, Arvada, CO
Emergence, Mai Wyn Fine Art, Denver, CO
2018
Skies of Gold, Andra Norris Gallery, Burlingame, CA
2017
Big Exhibition of Small Works, Andra Norris Gallery, Burlingame, CA
Small Works, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
So-, Andra Norris Gallery, Burlingame, CA
Paper Works, Arvada Center for the Arts, Arvada, CO Illluminate, Sophia Dixon Dillo & Jane Guthridge, WAVE Festival - Light + Water + Sound, Breckenridge, CO Ethereal Paper - Ann Chuchvara, Sophia Dixon Dillo & Rebecca Hutchison, Cynthia Reeves Gallery, Walpole, NH
Spectral Light & Color, Samara Gallery, Houston, TX
2016
of ifting/flowers in the gravel/at the end of the ice age, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass Village, CO
Extended Dialogue: Part 1, Space Gallery, Denver, CO Colorado
Women in Abstraction, Center for Visual Arts, Denver, CO
Abstraction, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Lucid Art Exhibition, Gallery Route One, Point Reyes Station, CA
SYNTHESIS – of all that went before, Averard Hotel with Galerie Fatiha Selam, London, UK
Repetition & Reticulation, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Milwaukee, WI
2014
10 Inches of Christmas, Space Gallery, Denver, CO
Surface, Space Gallery, Denver, CO
10-Year Anniversary Exhibit, Winterowd Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
Grand Opening Exhibit, Space Gallery, Denver, CO
Unbound – Five Installations, Arvada Center for the Arts, Arvada, CO
Brave New World, Scott Richards Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA
Willard Dixon & Sophia Dixon Dillo – Stillness & Activity, a Father & Daughter Show, Gallerie Citi, Burlingame, CA
2013
Lines & Grids: Works on Paper, Space Gallery, Denver, CO
The Story of the Creative, Angel Orensanz Foundation, New York, NY
30 Squared, Space Gallery, Denver, CO
2nd Annual Love + Light, A Contemporary Art and Light Exhibition, Loveland Feed & Grain, Loveland, CO
2012
Full Spectrum, Scott Richards Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA
Retrospective – 11 Year Anniversary, Space Gallery, Denver, C)
Art Without Illusion, Lakewood Cultural Center, Lakewood, CO
2011
1:1, Ice Cube Gallery, Denver, CO
Art of the Real, Space Gallery, Denver, CO
(MA)chi(N)e(MADE): Organic Precision, Vertigo Art Space, Denver, CO
2010
Friends and Family – an exhibition of Ice Cube artists and their
acquaintances, Ice Cube Gallery, Denver, CO
Begin Within - Three Person Exhibit, Old Firehouse Art Center, Longmont, CO
Ice Cube Group Exhibit, Ice Cube Gallery, Denver, CO
ASC Community Partnerships, Adams State College, Alamosa, CO
2009
Master of Fine Arts Exhibit, Curfman Gallery, Fort Collins, CO
Art and Science, Curfman Gallery, Fort Collins, CO
2008
Art and Science, Curfman Gallery, Fort Collins, CO
Art in the Attic, Lapis Gallery, Denver, CO
2007
Nextmas Show, Next Gallery, Denver, CO
Emerging Artists Exhibit, Museum of Contemporary Art, Ft Collins, CO
Open Studio Exhibit, Museum of Contemporary Art, Fort Collins, COMaster of Fine Arts Show, Curfman Gallery, Fort Collins, CO
2005
Student Invitational, University of Xochimilco, Mexico
The Drawing Show, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, CO
2004
East of the Moon - Five Worlds, Lincoln Gallery, Boulder, CO
Selected Public Collections
Fox Rothschild, LLP Denver, Colorado
State of New Mexico, Dept. of Cultural Affairs Santa Fe, New Mexico Four Seasons Hotel & Residence Denver, Colorado
Crestone Charter School Crestone, Colorado
The Briar Rose Bed & Breakfast Boulder, Colorado
Colorado State University, Communications Dept. Fort Collins, Colorado
Publications
2019
Voyage Denver, “Meet Sophia Dixon Dillo”
Bibliography
2017
Visual Art Source, “Sophia Dixon Dillo” by Kelly Skeen
The Santa Fe Reporter, “SFR Picks: Light Worker – Get bent, light” by
Maria Egolf-Romero
2016
The Aspen Times, “Minimalism goes West at Anderson Ranch exhibition
in Snowmass Village” by Andrew Travers
The Denver Post, “’Colorado Women in Abstraction’ cuts across history”
By Ray Mark Rinald
ArtScene, “Abstraction” Group Exhibit Review
Le Journal des Arts, “Monographie: Sophia Dixon Dillo accroche la lumiere” by Henri-Francois Debailleux
2015
Point Contemporain, “Light & Form, Sophia Dixon Dillo, Galerie Fatiha Selam”
2014
Huffington Post, “Richard Bruland and Sophia Dixon Dillo: Art Review,” by Peter Clothier
Artweek.L.A., “Pick of the Week – Sophia Dixon Dillo: Emergence”
Simayspace, “Current Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions – Doug
Simay’s Best Picks” by Doug Sima
Denver Westword, “Arvada Center’s Unbound: Five Installations moves, sparkles and shines, by Michael Paglia
2013
Denver Westword, “Best Show That Was Barely There” – Best of Awards
2012
Denver Westword, “Pieces and Quiet,” by Robin Edwards
Journal North, “a trio of Tasty Dishes,” by Kate Mcgraw
2011
Denver Westword, “Shine a Light,” by Michael Paglia
Denver Westword Blog, “Light, plane, and 25 miles of fishing line with artist Sophia Dixon Dillo,” by Jef Otte
Steamboat Pilot, "Contemporary light artist shows installation in Steamboat," by Nicole Inglis
2010
Curate This! New Work, Publication selected by Helen Pheby,PhD.,
Curator, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, UK
Curate This! 2010 International Public Vote, The BECA Foundation Publication
Denver Westword, “Two new solo offerings at Ice Cube Gallery show
member’s talent,” by Michael Paglia
The Crestone Eagle, “Sophia Dixon Dillo: Art that Emerges from
Spaciousness and Quiet,” by Gussie Fauntleroy
Longmont Times-Call, Review by Quentin Young
2008
Shumei International Institute, Webnews
The Crestone Eagle, Article
2007
Morgan Library News, Colorado State University Website
The Coloradoan, Two Articles
2004
XEN Dharma und Sangha News, German Magazine, Featured Artist
2001
Lacoste Vernissage, Catalogue Cover Featured Artist
Artist Residencies
2015
Lucid Art Foundation, Inverness, CA
2002
Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
Professional Engagements
2015
Artist Symposium, Shumei International Institute, Crestone CO
Artist Talk, Lincoln Center, Fort Collins, CO
2013
Guest Speaker, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Denver, CO
Guest Juror, University of New Mexico Architecture Department, Albuquerque, NM
2010
Slideluck Potshow, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, CO
2008
Artist Symposium, Shumei International Institute, Crestone CO
Honors and Awards
2010
5th in Popular Vote, Curate This! 2010, BECA Foundation
2006-08
Liberal Arts Scholarship, Margery Monfort Wilson Scholarship, Women’s Association Scholarship, & Graduate Grant, Colorado State
University
2002
Printmaking Residency Grant, Vermont Studio Center
2001
Scholarship, Lacoste School of the Arts