Sophie Carnell is a contemporary silversmith working from her studio on Bruny Island while being inspired by the stunning landscape of Southern Tasmania. After obtaining a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Tasmania, Carnell has continued to develop her practice through the completion of short courses in jewellery design. As a result, Carnell has been able to teach herself a variety of skills that has greatly informed the creation of her delicate sculptures that are handmade from sterling and fine silver.
Carnell's practice explores relationships to landscape, place and human interconnectedness with nature. Primarily working in Australian recycled silver, she is also interested in the materiality and perceived value of found natural and man-made objects. This diversity of precious and non-precious elements are often combined and hand-crafted into objects and wearable tokens that speak of the worth of our environment; of the effects that landscape can have on its inhabitants and conversely, the effect that those occupants can have on their surroundings.
Carnell has exhibited widely in Tasmania as well as on the mainland. She was a finalist in the 2021 York Botanical Art Prize, Winner of the 2021 Contemporary Wearables Biennial Jewellery Award and Exhibition at Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery in collaboration with Sarah Rayner. Carnell has also been the recipient of many other accolades including being a finalist in the Toowoomba Contemporary Wearables Award (2017) - where her work was acquired by the Toowoomba Regional Gallery; the Waterhouse Art Prize (2018, 2014) and the Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize (2015). Her work has also been acquired by Hobart's iconic Hadley's Orient Hotel. Carnell has been a member of FIND Contemporary Jewellery Collective in the Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart, for seven years.
