Artist statement
I start a painting with a sense of connection and curiosity. Each piece takes an unknown path capturing the essence of a place or memory. Eventually with persistence it arrives at the place, in which the process of painting leads me to the outcome. I paint what I know gardens, landscapes, and trees, things that carry the essence of ‘Almost Wild Places’.
I take these things I know to almost abstract places, I work expressively with my love of colour, line, form and design without completely letting go of representation. My materials range from, oil, acrylic, ink, pastels, and collage - which lends itself with freedom to the unexpected, I work on board and linen each adding its own unique character to the work. Artistic growth is critical to me, while transformation is a challenge on many levels, it forces me to go beyond what I think I know yet draws me closer to the Almost Wild Places of my curiosity.
Bio
Sonya Hotko was born in Sydney, Australia, the middle child of three. Her father Raymond Hotko an immigrant from Slovenia, her mother Nancy Tiley Australian. The family was a troubled one with her father constantly plagued by his experiences during World War II in Europe. The family instilled in the children strict expectations and perfectionism.
Sonya found early in life drawing and painting was an escape from the problems of dysfunctional family life. From the age of 11 she and her siblings were living with her grandparents along with her mother. After leaving school she developed her skill for painting selling watercolours of Australian birds.
At age 19, desperate to escape the city and embrace solitude of nature, she moved to Dangar Island in the Hawkesbury River near Sydney where she lived in a small boatshed on the river accessible only by boat, the isolation suited her and her creative process perfectly. The following year 1980 she enrolled in art school, she excelled achieving the top student award in her first year. After completing the three years of study her life then took a distinct turn, marriage, two children and a business to run with her husband. Her island life continued for 18 years.
In 1996 Sonya travelled to Slovenia with her father, then 70 years old, to reconnect with the family he lost 50 years ago. This life changing experience set her on a path of discovery, identity and belonging.
Sonya returned to art in 2007 studying painting and printmaking at Meadowbank Tafe Art College, immediately on her return to art she was short listed for the South Australian Natural History Art Prize, she was awarded 3rd prize painting. After this award, she began teaching art at C3 College on the Northern Beaches of Sydney where she taught for 10 years whilst she continued to sell her work from her studio in Manly. Her paintings always inspired by the natural world in which she immersed herself.
In 2017 Sonya made another life change, she moved to Florence Italy, there she immediately started work as an art teacher and finally set up her studio in Florence. Her work has developed over time, with influences of Turner, Monet, and Cy Twombly. The development of her work has made the transition of - painting from life, to also painting from memory - which pulls her work into an abstract place yet never completely abandons representation.
In 2024 she exhibited her work at the Artigianato e Palazzo exhibition at the Corsini Palazzo Gardens in Florence Italy. Today Sonya’s work continues to evolve and mature following the cycles of growth, bloom, decay, and seed. With this exploration her vision of “almost wild places’’ continues as she creates and sells her work online from her studio in Florence.
Through this journey of transformation and connection to place, the exploration of “almost wild places” has been, and continues to be, the constant inspiration that feeds her curiosity in life and in her art practice.