ABOVE: Sonja with her Tasman National Art Award Merit Award painting – ‘Everything but the bowl’

GOOD FOR THE SOUL

“Oil paint is my favourite medium. I love the consistency of it. I also love the fact that I don’t feel any pressure from it. It is slow drying so I can take my time without it drying on me. Or I can paint really quickly. It depends how I feel at the time. It works with me, instead of me working with it.” So says Sonja Walker who has just completed her Bachelor of Art and Media at Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology.

Having always wanted to be an artist, Sonja was discouraged as there was a feeling that being an artist wasn’t a ‘real job’. She pushed the idea aside. “But it turns out sometimes you can’t just push it to the side and whilst I spent most of my adult life dedicated to raising my family, the desire to create was always there. I went to painting, pottery and screenprinting classes whenever I could. Once all of my children were at school and I had more time for myself, I happened to get into some screenprinting and ended up hand drawing designs and screen printing t-shirts, which I sold at local markets. 

“I enjoyed this and it satisfied my creative itch for a good few years. Then covid hit and we had lockdowns, so no more markets for me. It was perfect timing really because I was ready for a change. That’s when I decided to go back to study. Not going to art school was always a regret for me. So, I thought better late than never! I have thoroughly loved it and now I don’t want it to end!”

Sonja’s inspiration comes from everyday and unnoticed little things – usually seen around the home that somehow take her by surprise and make her stop, especially stainless steel and reflections. “This pause and appreciation for the little things is good for the soul.”

Relishing the stillness, contemplation and materiality of Jude Rae’s work, Sonja says that when you see Jude’s work in real life, it is breathtaking. She is also inspired by other artists: “Uta Barth’s photographs appeal to my love of the everyday, especially in the home. I am inspired by the way her work leads me to consider things other than the subject matter. They become about light and the passage of time and perception. I admire Ellsworth Kelly’s work too. Especially his photographs of everyday moments, which somehow become geometric and abstract. I have been drawn to these more abstract ideas recently, so he has been a great inspiration.”

She has a love-hate relationship with Andy Warhol. “It’s mostly love though! I think it’s the garish colours that I struggle with. But I find everything else inspiring, especially his use of repetition. I keep coming back to him when I’m thinking about my work even though we are so different. His range of work is so vast, I am constantly surprised.”

However, what Sonja loves most now about being an artist, is the sound of mixing paint on the palette: “I love how I can just play with paint and somehow it transforms a blank canvas into something. I also love the way I can highlight the thing I’ve seen, something that seems special only to me, but finding that other people connect with it too.”

Her final project for her degree forced her out of her comfort zone, exploring light and shadow and a small, exciting step into abstraction. “I am intrigued about what I can learn. I feel like I have just touched on the surface of something which might hold my attention for a long time. There is so much I want to explore.”

2024 was a very satisfying year for Sonja. “I was selected as a finalist in the Craig’s Aspiring Art Prize, a finalist in the Molly Morpeth Canaday Award, a finalist in the New Zealand Painting and Printmaking Award and a merit award winner in the Tasman National Art Award!” 2025 is off to a good start for her too as a finalist in the Cleveland National Art Awards.

As with most artists, Sonja’s biggest obstacle is self-doubt. “I still suffer from that but through my degree and having the recognition in recent art awards, I have learned to worry about it less. It’s probably good to have a little bit of that. It pushes you to try harder.”

She is currently president of Art Group Nelson. “Taking on the role of president has really pushed my personal development. I am NOT a public speaker. It has to be my biggest fear. But now I find myself speaking in front of groups of people at group meetings and exhibition openings. It has been a rapid learning curve.”

Her oldest and most favourite piece of equipment is her palette knife. “The metal has flexed so much with use that it is so soft to use. The edges on the wooden handle too have worn so much that it feels smooth in my hand. It fits and moves perfectly with my hand.”

When she is creating, she listens to music. She has a wide range of music, but does like to listen to playlists on repeat: “Much to the annoyance of my children.” She takes lots of photographs of things that capture her attention during daily life, things that jump out at her. “Sometimes it’s not as simple as using the photograph as a reference image. Sometimes I make further photographic studies of that particular subject. I use the photographs kind of like a sketch. Taking multiple, working out the viewpoint or scale etc. When I have what I want, I usually draw a rough outline straight onto the primed canvas. Then I’ll work with the paint, building up thin layers. Sometimes I like to go in with thicker layers. It depends on the work.”

She advises artists to make connections with other artists and to try and keep those channels open. “Other creatives help to inspire you and keep you connected to making. They’re also great for giving you feedback and bouncing ideas off.”

She feels grounded by her  studies and the work she has created.  “I know what interests me. I am on my path. But I am also ready to explore my work in my own way in my own time. I think I will be experimenting a lot. Hopefully in five years I will have created a body of work that I am satisfied with and that a gallery is willing to show.” Winning the Nelson Suter Art Society distinction award at her graduate exhibition presents Sonja this first step into a gallery setting with a joint exhibition with two other students. With the exhibition due to take place in August 2025 in the McKee Gallery at Nelson Suter Art Gallery, hopefully this will be the first of many.

She has work in the UK and New Zealand.