Creativity and self expression started at a young age. After watching her parents make each other scrapbooks filled with memories from their travels, Sophia Kardonski was inspired to express her creativity fully and unapologetically. “They always [encouraged] me to think outside of the box and be my own creative force,” says the 26-year-old curator, art collector, and founder of The Love You—an alternative gallery space representing emerging, contemporary artists, curators, chefs, and creatives. Surrounded by mentors like seasoned art collector Rosa de la Cruz and passion-filled environments (like Central Saint Martins, a storied art school in London), the Cuban Panamanian multi-hyphenate successfully embedded style into her DNA.
Now that she’s living back home in Miami, Sophia is crafting a unique space of her own in an art-filled loft that houses collectibles any creative would envy. “I see my personal collection as an intimate reflection of my existence,” she says. From Pierre Jeanneret and Marcel Breuer to Ryan McGinley and Lucien Smith, Sophia’s taste spans generations—a talent which has undoubtedly led her to become one to watch in the art world. Read on for more of the young entrepreneur’s swoon-worthy space.
Location: Miami, Florida
Square footage: 1,800 square feet
How long you’ve lived there: “Two years.”
The inspo: “I love to combine elements from different periods and styles—midcentury, wabi sabi, postmodernism.”
How would you explain your aesthetic: “Eclectic, colorful, alive, nostalgic—a culmination of my lived experiences in one place.”
Standout pieces: “Pierre Jeanneret, Marcel Breuer, Dan Colen, Chris Ofili, Alejandro Piñeiro Bello, Lucien Smith, Rafael Soriano, and Max Hooper Schneider.”
First piece of art in your collection: “It is challenging to mark a first piece of art in my collection because many pieces from the collection are passed down from family members. For example, some of my favorites are paintings that my great-grandmother painted in Cuba; another is a beautiful 18th-century painting she had in her house in Cuba, which she brought to the island after living in Europe, and was then able to bring to Miami in the ’60s when my family fled. The first piece of art I purchased was Ryan McGinley’s Tommy & Heather, 2012, which is a funny one because years later, I received a call from a good friend asking if he could connect me with his friend who was visiting Miami since he was not going to be in town. I said yes and took him around. A few days after spending the weekend with him, I get home and realize my new friend was Tommy from the photograph. I never realized because it’s a profile of his face, but then it all clicked after spending time with him and registering the photo’s name.”
Walk us through the thought process when it comes to the art that you collect for your home: “It’s not something I think about, it’s something I feel a connection with and happens organically. I collect based more on feeling than visuals. It always begins with knowing how I want to feel in my environment; then, it’s about having a connection with a piece or the artist. I don’t overthink the art I collect or how it will come to me; I pay more attention to the environment and the feeling I want to create. I also won’t ever rush to fill a blank wall. I rather see it is empty than filled with something I don’t feel connected to. I naturally gravitate towards color and pieces that make me feel joyful; if they don’t have those two qualities, then they hold sentimental value.”
The best part about the room: “My library staircase.”
