Berlin-based artist Sofia Defino Leiby is currently transitioning her practice between her Alt-Treptow studio and a residency at Defet House in Nürnberg. Her multidisciplinary approach integrates painting, collage, and performance, drawing heavily from a 'running narrative' of personal notes, found ephemera, and high-end materials like Schmincke paints. The work often features visceral, layered compositions that utilize everything from vintage packaging to Swiss Aura-Soma bottle imagery.
Leiby’s work is significant for its exploration of the boundaries between autofiction and abstraction, balancing intimate personal source material with a deliberate authorial distance. By blending the literary cadence of her writing with visual echoes of Sigmar Polke’s textured collages, she challenges the concept of the 'I' in contemporary art. Her practice reflects a broader trend of artists using archival methods to navigate the tension between lived experience and constructed narrative.