Some call it the Titanic of the northwest Pacific.
The sinking of the SS Princess Sophia off the coast of Alaska in 1918 was one of the worst nautical disasters to take place in the history of Alaska and B.C. However, the story never became as legendary as that other cruise liner that sank in the Atlantic just six years before.
A group of 12 advanced sculpture students at UBC Okanagan are delving into the Sophia’s history through their art practice with the presentation of an installation at Vernon’s Gallery Vertigo.
Entitled Sophia, the exhibition is an interpretation of what happened to the liner, its captain and passengers, and has been curated by UBO sculpture student Brit Bachmann, who is also a studio artist at Vertigo.
“1918 was a big year. People had war on their minds. Everything that was going down in Europe affected North America. I think that was the biggest reason why news of the ship was buried. There were a lot of other things that also got buried in 1918, including the Finnish Civil War,” said Bachmann who stumbled across the story of the Sophia while scrolling through the B.C. archives.
“I was looking for images, and saw this news report from Juneau about what happened. At that point, the ship hadn’t sank yet. The sinking actually occurred 40 hours after the ship crashed onto a reef. There was an unpredictable storm at the time and the boat was essentially shattered. 343 people lost their lives, and there were rumours that only a dog survived.”
With the original plan to do her own installation, Bachmann decided to present the idea to her advanced sculpture class and see what the group could come up with collectively and individually.
“My practice is limited to sculpture and drawing, and I thought since our class was going to do an installation anyway, it would be good to take an idea that was broad and see what everyone could interpret using their own medium,” she said.
With pieces ranging from a severed hand to a portal window framed by a life ring, the students literally went to sea to present their ideas. They examined archival images and objects, historical narratives, and explored the fictive and imaginary through various sculpture processes, new media, and installation-based works.
“I think this really reflects the interests of the artists. Some connected with story of the captain who refused the evacuation of his passengers. Others reflected on the women and children who were on board,” said Bachmann.
This is the second exhibition Bachmann has curated at Vertigo, and she says she is grateful to former Vertigo director Judith Jurica and current director Heidi Maddess for the opportunity.
The students have also received encouragement and advice from Renay Egami, assistant professor of sculpture in the faculty of creative and critical studies at UBC Okanagan.
Sophia is also accompanied with a self-published, hand-bound catalogue including a contextual essay by Bachmann, with design by Jeremy Shantz.
Other students who have created work for the exhibition include Kendal Cowley, Fraser Crowley, John Fache, Elyse Kavanagh, Jennifer Lauriault, Victoria Martinez, Dylan Ranney, Darren Sim, Lacia Vogel, Tony Wang, and Alison Ward.
Sophia is open to the public to view at Vertigo, located at 3001-31st. St. (upstairs) Tuesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. A closing reception will take place Thursday, March 1 from 7 to 9 p.m.
