Clay, paper, painting and sculpture

you will find Sonja’s work featured at Modern Glaze, rather than in her own studio.

My work is inspired by the body, its absence, and its anxieties. I aim to create an unsettling, vulnerable, feminine, and whimsical beauty. Traditional dolls have a horrifying and overly sweet mask-like quality. The dolls I have been creating for the last few years represent meat-suit bodies that nudge the viewer's awareness of the humanity, vulnerability, and shame we, as individuals, wear throughout our lives. Photography of these images creates an eerie world where the dolls dwell, inviting the viewer to peer in.

During the Covid-19 Lockdown, I paused my doll-making and experimented with divergent materials focusing on peculiar details and uncommon body references. I began an extensive series of collages combined with watercolors that provided an opportunity for increased range in my work while satisfying my desire to make tactile and dreamlike details. Working this way allowed me to capture additional subtle nuances I couldn't do with the dolls.

Collaging expanded my practice, and I developed a curiosity about materials, parts, and their ability to combine, and I began responding intuitively. I enjoyed the spontaneity of sculpting the clay by cutting, slumping, and readjusting sections. Unnerving and disconnected experiences are the most real because they are beyond explanation and don't play by unwritten rules, and I like to tap into that visually.

The dolls I have been making the last few years are meat-suit bodies that nudge the viewer's awareness of humanity and shame. My dark humor and playfulness guide my artmaking. Traditional dolls have a horrifying and overly sweet mask-like quality, and I prefer drastic alterations I create. Photography creates an uncanny world where the dolls dwell and invite the viewer to peer in.

During covid lockdown, I paused the doll making and experimented with different materials focusing on peculiar details and unexpected body references. I started an extensive series of collages combined with watercolor that satisfied my desire to make tactile and dreamlike work capturing more subtle nuances than the dolls.

Collaging also changed my practice, and I started thinking of things as parts to combine and respond intuitively. I enjoy the spontaneity of sculpting the clay by cutting, slumping, and readjusting sections.

Sonja Peterson is a Seattle paper artist, painter, fiber artist, and ceramic artist located in Shoreline, Washington. She received her MFA in printmaking from the University of Washington in 1997.