About the Work

 Artist Statement: 

In her work, Sonya McAlister intuitively responds to specific places in nature. 

Creating primitive drawing tools and impressions from nature, the artist approaches her work experimentally. She utilizes natural elements; light, shadow, organic material, found objects, and time to explore her interdependence with and connection to specific landscapes. 

Her process invites an exchange between the unpredictability of natural materials used for mark-making and her conscious manipulation of them. She explores how process informs the final outcome of an image, as well as ways the final image surpasses the process used to create it. 

The drawings, prints and paintings represent the markings of an exchange between the artist and her natural surroundings. The work is about her deep connection and dependence on the earth. McAlister views her work as a dialogue between herself and the earth. She often returns to the same locations, observing and responding to subtle changes in the landscape over time. 

The fragility and temporality of nature are central to the artist’s perception when spending time in a landscape. The visual response to a natural space reflects the experience of all her senses. The images created are as much about movement, time, and the physical sensation of weather as they are about the visual presence of the landscape 

Contact the Artist at: sonyaart@outlook.com

*The landscape is not disrupted in the creation of her work, when appropriate materials are returned back to the place they were found.