28th ANNUAL NO DEAD ARTISTS
International Juried Exhibition of Contemporary Art"First Saturdays" Opening Receptions - 7 September + 5 October 5-9 PM
September 3 – October 19, 2024
Artist Statement
Armed with the belief that all living things are connected by the habitat they share,
my work aims to capture this precious wildness, documenting its wealth of colour,
spirit, and mood. It pays homage to fertile environments that are under constant
threat. My subject matter is tethered to locations which are deeply and intimately
familiar yet simultaneously filtered through humankind’s inherent sense of being
‘other’, of viewing ourselves as separate from the natural world. While most
organisms co-exist in harmony, exposed to the elements, living a life framed by sky
and earth, humans seem unwilling to acknowledge that we also belong to this fully
interconnected ecosystem. My work explores this sensation of being an observer
‘looking in’ to a beautiful, extraordinary, foreign wilderness.
These landscape paintings emerge from numerous layers of acrylic paint applied on
intricately hand cut plywood, a device developed to emphasise shadows and space.
These pieces explore the relationship between positive and negative in order to
understand the beauty found when nature and humanity are in a state of balance.
The sculpted edges of the work cast shadows, offering a portal into the landscape, to
focus on a rapidly disappearing ecology. Drawing on aesthetics anchored in the
verdant tropical landscapes of northern Australia, my process includes documenting
these places through a myriad of photographs and sketches which become the
foundation of my work. Referencing these resources I decipher the landscape,
blending the literal with the interpreted, creating work that blurs boundaries between
documentation and memory. Adhering to the words of Corot, recording the
landscape is about finding moments of ‘truth bathed in an impression received from
nature’.
The work is designed to share and ignite a sense of wonder and reverence for our
natural world. We have all become such brief visitors to the wilderness, it is hard to
be passionate about protecting something when we are so removed from it.
Landscape paintings are a gentle reminder of what lies beyond the walls they hang
on.
Biography
Living and working as a landscape artist in Northern Territory, Australia, Sonia Martignon documents the fragility and beauty of landscapes under increasing strain. Her artworks pose the question: how do we preserve this beautiful planet and what will our future be if we don’t embrace the natural world and learn from it? Sonia was born in Sydney, Australia to an Italian father and British mother. Moving to the remote Northern Territory when Sonia was two years old, her European immigrant parents embraced the wild, foreign landscape. With the closest major cities nearly 4000km away, they were surrounded by seemingly endless dryland savannah and sandy deserts, punctuated with pockets of monsoon vine forests, floodplains, rivers, and billabongs all teaming with spectacular biodiversity. Untouched and isolated, this rugged and ancient terrain became Sonia’s backyard, and its impact is evident in all her work. Sonia obtained a Bachelor of Fine Art at Charles Darwin University. Completing further studies in architecture and education she is also a qualified teacher. Beginning a fulltime arts practice in 2019, Sonia has held solo exhibitions and participated in multiple curated group shows across Australia. In 2022 Sonia undertook an art residency at Tactile Arts Studios. Her work has been selected and exhibited in several national art prizes including the Korea-Australian Art Foundation Art Prize, Sydney (2018, 2021, 2022), Lethbridge Landscape Prize, Brisbane (2021), 20000 Small-Scale Art Awards, Brisbane (2021, 2024), and the Kennedy Art Prize, Adelaide (2023). Sonia was awarded the Korea-Australian Art Foundation Art Prize in 2022 and the Katherine Prize in 2023.
Curriculum Vitae
Education
2007 Graduate Diploma Education - Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT
1998 Coursework towards Bachelor of Built Environment (Interior Architecture) - QUT, Brisbane, QLD
1992 Bachelor of Fine Arts - Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT (formerly NTU)
Grants, Awards and Prizes
2023 WINNER, Katherine Art Prize, Katherine NT
2023 FINALIST, Kennedy Art Prize, Adelaide
2022 WINNER, KAAF Art Prize (Korean-Australian Arts Foundation), Sydney
2022 Recipient of Artist in Residence, Tactile Arts, Darwin
2022 Recipient of NT Regional Arts Fund Grant for The Residency
2021 FINALIST-HIGHLY COMMENDED, KAAF Art Prize (Korean-Australian Arts Foundation), Sydney
2021 FINALIST, Lethbridge Small Scale Art Award, Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane
2021 FINALIST, Lethbridge Landscape Prize, Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane
2020 HIGHLY COMMENDED, Katherine Art Prize, Godinymayin Yijard Art Centre, Katherine
2020 Recipient of NT Arts Emerging Artist Project Grant for My Backyard
2019 Recipient of NT Regional Arts Fund Grant for The Other Art Fair
2018 FINALIST, KAAF Art Prize (Korean-Australian Arts Foundation), Sydney
2018 Recipient of NT Regional Arts Fund Grant for Hidden In Plain Sight
2014 HIGHLY COMMENDED, Katherine Art Prize, Godinymayin Yijard Art Centre, Katherine
Solo Exhibitions
2023 Into the Wild, Weswal Gallery, Tamworth
2019 A Fragile Existence, Salon Project Space Gallery, Darwin
2019 The Other Art Fair, Australian Technology Park, Sydney
2018 Hidden In Plain Sight, Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 Memento24: Rituals, Qubit Gallery, Darwin
2024 Submerged, Godinymayin Yijard Art Centre, Katherine
2024 Lethbridge Small Scale Art Award Exhibition, Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane
2023 Katherine Art Prize, Godinymayin Yijard Art Centre, Katherine
2023 KAAF Art Prize, Korean Cultural Centre, Sydney
2023 Kennedy Art Prize, RSASA Gallery, Adelaide
2023 Too Bloody Hot, Northern Centre for Contemporary Art, Darwin
2023 Birds From Here, Salon Project Space Gallery, Darwin
2022 Memento23: Change, Untitled Gallery, Darwin
2023 The Everyday Group Exhibition, The Corner store Gallery, Orange
2023 Inside This Box, The Corner store Gallery, Orange
2023 Here On In, Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne
2022 Nocturne, Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne
2022 KAAF Art Prize, Korean Cultural Centre, Sydney
2022 Memento22: A Journey, Untitled Gallery, Darwin
2022 The Residency, Tactile Arts Gallery, Darwin
2021 KAAF Art Prize, Korean Cultural Centre, Sydney
2021 Memento, Untitled Gallery, Darwin
2021 Lethbridge Small Scale Art Award Exhibition, Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane
2021 Lethbridge Landscape Prize Exhibition, Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane
2021 Under the Sun, Cook Street Collective Gallery, Mornington Peninsular
2020 Katherine Art Prize, Godinymayin Yijard Art Centre, Katherine
2020 Exploration 20 Exhibition, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne
2019 Offcuts Show, Don Whyte Gallery, Darwin
2019 Katherine Art Prize, Godinymayin Yijard Art Centre, Katherine
2018 KAAF Art Prize, Korean Cultural Centre, Sydney
2018 Offcuts Show, Don Whyte Gallery, Darwin
2018 Hit Me With Your Best Shot Projection Exhibition, Biennale of Australian Art, Ballarat
2018 Tropical Gothic, Mayfair Gallery, Darwin
2017 Katherine Art Prize, Godinymayin Yijard Art Centre, Katherine
2017 Gypsies, Vagabonds and Wild Mad Women, Tactile Arts Gallery, Darwin
2017 Marine, Tactile Arts Gallery, Darwin
2016 Memory, Dream, Myth, Tactile Arts Gallery, Darwin
2015 ArtMart 2015, Northern Centre for Contemporary Art, Darwin
Public Art Projects
2018 Corrugated Iron Public Art Project, Darwin
2017 Alan Walker Cancer Centre Public Art Project, Darwin
Publications
2022 McDonald, John. (2022) Newsletter 467 https://www.johnmcdonald.net.au/2022/newsletter-467/
2023 Contemporary Art Station (ICM Gestora Cultural, SL). (2023) Contemporary Collectors Art Book.
Volume 1. Granada, Spain: Torres Editors
2019 Wolff, Mark. (2019) ‘In search of a Tropical Gothic in Australian visual arts’, eTropic 18.1 ‘Tropical
Gothic’ Special Issue, 192. https://journals.jcu.edu.au/etropic/article/download/3691/3567