Sofia Hailu

“Why are we here?” It’s a question that comes up often and can never be fully answered. The journey that all humans must take on earth intrigues me. We appear on this world, without asking to be in it, and then we are left to figure out how to spend our lives. Through this body of work, I want to show how impactful sound is to visuals. Music in particular channels directly to human emotion and embodies the natural rhythms of the earth. It does not answer why we are here, but every song is a sonic translation of the artists’ experience. Listening to other’s emotions and experiences, help us navigate our own. Music changed how I saw the world, and it completely transforms the emotions you experience when watching this animation. The music starts to shape the environment and lets the viewer to have an insight on how the character is feeling. Through different scenes of her walking, trying to sleep, meeting a butterfly the sounds change. Sound shapes the world, in the way that sound has changed my world. The lingering feeling of isolation, pensiveness, and a little bit of magic that I have etched into this piece reflects my experience. This work of art is just the beginning of a journey where I am trying to navigate unanswered questions within the human experience.

Sofi Hailu is an emerging artist who has mostly worked with themes of sound, heritage, and migration. Born in Nuremberg, Germany to a Ukrainian mother and an Ethiopian father, she was raised in Denver, Colorado since 2000. Sofi is currently exploring the importance of sound to visuals, and how sound in the visual arts can be used to reflect on one’s purpose and place in the world.