London-based artist Sophie Layton has all the natural sensibilities of a photographer, displaying an innate understanding of light, composition and positive/negative space as she guides me through the body of work that she is creating for her debut at Collect art fair in her Brixton printmaking studio. The daughter of British glassblowing legend Peter Layton, she has eschewed following in his footsteps – until now.
Her trajectory to glass hasn’t been a straightforward one. She graduated from Brighton University in 2009, where she obtained a Fine Art Printmaking degree. During her third year of university she discovered monoprinting, in which an image can only be made once, unlike most forms of printmaking. ‘Much like glassblowing, you’re working hard to create just one piece,’ she says of the process.