I have walked this terrain so many times before and quietly walked away. Sometimes dabbled with colour, other times built a mesh of crisscross lines. Sometimes felt overjoyed at discovering ideas that creativity lent and other times left totally bewildered by their absence. I still persist to follow this compulsion as "It is the heart that is important" ( Writings of Nichiren Daishonin).
As a child, I still recall my classroom suffused with the smell of freshly opened oil pastels and my art teacher gingerly picking up one to draw any student who caught her eye. I was awestruck with her dexterity and I wanted to be like Mrs. Raina. Thereafter, came in the sceneries, portraits, caricatures, and colours. It took a series of attempts and soul searching to clearly see, a path unfolding.
Having completed her education in Delhi, Sonia earned a diploma in Commercial Art from South Delhi Polytechnic, India. Thereafter she illustrated for Oxford University Press, India and worked for Rediffusion DY&R in the advertising space. She further developed her creativity at school science fairs where she envisioned and executed an interactive board game. Part of this artistic endeavour was also composing lyrics and music for the Science Fair.
After moving to Singapore in 2015, Sonia held workshops for children on Indian Folk Art and further undertook courses from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and 'Drawing From the Right Side of the Brain'. Due to the uncertainty posed by COVID-19, her debut exhibition, Cluster of Blessings was held virtually in July 2020. In August 2020 she participated in “No Fear, Ganesha Art is here”- a heritage curation by Vidhya Gouresan Nair and November 2020 onwards her works were exhibited virtually at Artsy and Affordable Art Fair, Singapore 2021 under the flagship of Gnani Arts Pte, Singapore.
She is currently exploring her newfound love in caricatures, water colours and delving deeper into themes for upcoming exhibitions.