Artist Statement - Sonja Drake
'When everything is connected to everything else, for better or for worse, everything matters.' - Bruce Mau
'My work explores areas where land meets water and the patterns and rhythms of life where waters path flows. Above and below the surface of the land, in the waterways, aquifers, and the sea and in the bird, insect and animal life, there exists a woundedness. Visiting and exploring sites relevant to my settler heritage, my practice ties into processes of colonisation, settling and unsettling.
Through the medium of painting I tell a story from my own perspective as a unsettled settler. Through observing and listening to the land, gathering personal and family experiences, histories and broader research I have endeavoured to build a map of interwoven threads. These threads seek to communicate my experience and evoke a sense of what its like to be there.'
Sonja is now based in Tamaki Makaurau Auckland. She has exhibited in a number of solo and groups exhibitions and has received many art awards. Check Sonja's CV.
Sonja has an MFA (Honours) from Whitecliffe College of Art and a BFA from Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland.
View Sonja's collection at Railway Street Gallery
She has a show coming up at Railway Street Gallery + Studios at the end of November.