Grind x Sophy Hollington: Meet the Artist.

The Grind x Sophy Hollington Collaboration

Sophy Hollington is renowned for her rich, otherworldly compositions that draw inspiration from folkloric and arcane themes. Through the lengthy and intricate relief printmaking process of linocutting, Sophy channels the occult in mesmerising illustrations, and that's exactly what she's done for this special-edition collaboration.

Sophy Hollington is the creator of Autonomic Tarot and has previously collaborated with the likes of Celine, Nike, Hermés, and Top Cuvée. Now, she’s bringing her magic to the Grind coffee range with a collection that celebrates finding light amidst the darkness.

The Grind x Sophy Hollington collection features mystical moonlit illustrations that are at once bright and colourful and yet filled with clandestine and cryptic motifs. The duality of light and dark lies at the heart of much of Sophy’s work, something pretty relevant during wintertime in the UK: this collaboration is all about discovering fragments of warmth and light, even when the sun sets at 4pm.

The care, time, and patience that Sophy puts into her art mirrors the care we put into our coffee, and this partnership is where our two different crafts meet.

What Does the Collaboration Include?

The collaboration products all feature a custom illustration by Sophy Hollington.

Grind x Sophy Hollington Tin: Where Sophy’s creatures of the night meet your morning ritual, this refillable tin is made for storing your favourite coffee in. Pair with our Nespresso® compatible compostable coffee pods or our speciality whole bean and ground coffee. This tin comes free when you sign up to regular Grind deliveries. Shop the tin here.

Grind x Sophy Hollington Coffee Cups & Saucers Set: Bringing a bit of magic to our classic black coffee cups and saucers. Shop the set here.

Grind x Sophy Hollington Winter’s Flame Scented Candle: Quite literally lighting up the darkness, this 100% natural wax candle has cosy, warming notes of ginger, orange, and clove. Shop it here.

Our collection also includes two bundles:

Shop the Grind x Sophy Hollington Tin & Candle Bundle here.

Shop the Grind x Sophy Hollington Tin & Coffee Cup Bundle here.

Every purchase from the collection comes with a free Sophy Hollington designed matchbox.

Meet Sophy Hollington

As we created this magical collab, we chatted to Sophy about her work, her process, and her inspiration:

Linocutting is famously a time-consuming, delicate process. What is it about it that makes you stick to it as a medium?

I suppose I felt I had something unique to say with it. Its built-in parameters have forced me to approach composition and form in a way that works to the medium’s strengths; it's bold and immediate whilst retaining an element of expression that’s so hard to recreate digitally. With relief printing being such an ancient process, it also retains this archaic vernacular that as an image-maker you can play with and subvert and I love that.

Your compositions are filled with arcane and folkloric themes. Has this always been a feature of your work?

For a long time now, but not always. I began to hone in on this when I started to work solely using lino, as the medium lends itself so beautifully to this world. It also took me a while to realise what interests could sustain my practice. I really discovered what these were back in 2016 when I made a little illustrated book about global folklore and myth surrounding meteors and asteroids.

Where do you find inspiration when you’re starting a new project?

Depends entirely on the project! When I’m working commercially as an illustrator there is very often a brief that will direct me to some specific area of research, which can be wonderful if it’s not a place I would have thought to explore myself.

When briefs are more open or I’m working on a personal project, I tend to look to the past and root through my collection of books on alchemical art, renaissance painting and emblems, and the history of ornamental design. I also love looking through old magazine archives. You can flick through every single Oz magazine online.

Our collaboration is a celebration of the light we find in the darkness, which is especially important in the cold winter months. What’s your favourite thing about wintertime in the UK?

My bedroom window faces out onto a valley with a view of the sea in the distance and only in the depths of winter does the sun set right in the middle of it—making the room golden and glowy in a way it isn’t any other time of the year.

Do you have a morning ritual?

Definitely not an exciting one! Wake, drink a glass of water, moisturise, feed the dog and let them out, have a coffee and force myself to eat something, read a bit of news, start work.

Lastly, but crucially, how do you take your coffee?

Black filter.