Sophia Valera Heinecke

Performance begins 8:30pm EST 05/31, @ Caelum Gallery

You are invited to…

 Pick up the small glass containers.

 Pour their contents into the larger vessel where the artist stands. 

Return the small glass containers to the floor.

When was the last time someone poured into you? 

When did you last pour out your concerns about a desire for vengeance, anxieties about a task done carelessly, a string of compliments, or excitement about a new idea? To prepare, we practice. 

Share something meaningful with the artist by offering them grains of your personality. 

Present the prompt in the glass handwritten on paper or pour out what is on your mind today.

It all adds up. Every word, every grain. It is all shifting, nothing fixed, even when contained. 

The five spectrums of personality correspond to different colors of sand which prompt the artist’s response are as follows:

• Extraversion - Yellow

• Sociable? Spontaneous? Inhibited? Tactful?

• Neuroticism - Pink

• High-strung? Secure? Vulnerable? Self-Pitying?

• Conscientiousness - Purple

• Negligent? Well-Organized? Unreliable? Persevering?

• Agreeableness - Green 

• Forgiving? Callous? Big-hearted? Courteous?

• Openness to experience -  Sky Blue

• Curious? Simple? Broad-Interests? Conventional?

Pick the color you are attracted to or the personality trait that puzzles you. There is no wrong way to pour in except for withholding. Once you take a chance to offer up, others will, and the vessel, the room, will fill up faster with attempts at knowing. Consider…

What do you need to know about someone else? What do you need to know about yourself?

Nothing will exist here without you. You need to act, and you need to act to build. You must pour first. Nothing will happen if you don't pour in; that might be the worst thing. Only you can prevent stagnancy by acting. 

Sophia Valera Heinecke (b. 1993 - )

Manifold Sands

2025

Acrylic display vessel, glass vases, colored nontoxic sand

Durational performance of 1 hour

Invoking the nostalgia of sand art from her place of birth, Mesa, Arizona, Sophia Valera Heinecke hopes to help all who encounter Manifold Sands in peacefully engaging with the sands of time, the granular nature of personality, and a more profound knowing of who she is that encourages a bravery in sharing from person to person across all relationships. The epitome of both soothing and unsettling, to be known deeply and to know others profoundly is to understand people's flaws. It's not relaxing for most people to seek out this deep learning, but once you attain it, there is nothing more relaxing than being your true self. 

To be known across all layers of one's life

To speak fluidly, as the layers are poured

To stand in the accumulation of beauty

We see and hear the beauty of what is broken down as viewers pour into the artist's vessel one (or more) of five colors of sand, symbolizing five spectrums of personality traits that build deeper knowing between people. The artist pours out a spectrum, glimpses into life, moments of bearing witness, and tales of overcoming. 

The tableau and interactive performance that is Manifold Sands is a visual fractal of what fills each compartment of our lives, flowing together to build the whole and reminding us of environmentalist Rachel Carson's words: "In every grain of sand, there is a story of the Earth."

The spectrum draws from the "Big-Five Personality Traits" with information adapted from the study McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (1987): Validation of the five-factor model of personality across instruments and observers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Special thanks to Xav at Silent Sister, Gabi at Rude Ink, and Lia Simone. There is so much to be grateful for even as we hold space to change this unjust world.