ABOUT Sonja

Seeking to create works that radiate joyfulness and life

“Sonja’s work is rooted in a deep love of colour, and a deep drive to explore colour relationships, and create works that radiate joyfulness and life. With the use of bold colours, abstract shapes and gestural brush strokes, she intentionally focuses on the expression of joy, simplicity and a sense of aliveness. For the viewer, she wants her work to spark their curiosity and imagination, and to feel joyful and “raw” - almost like a sigh of relief.”

Sonja Dahlgren (b 1973) is a contemporary abstract painter based in Gothenburg, Sweden.

THE “WHY”

Sonja’s work is rooted in a deep love of colour, and she intentionally focuses on the expression of joy, simplicity and a sense of aliveness. She believes that this is important because, as adults, we have to be serious about so many things. But, we don’t have to be reminded of that. We already know that. Instead, Sonja believes we need to be reminded of the importance of joy, curiosity, play and of how to simply enjoy life. Sonja is primarily interested in colour relationships, and how visual structure can generate emotional response, more precisely how joy and aliveness can be constructed within a composition, through the use of bold colours, abstract shapes and gestural brush strokes. For the viewer, she wants her work to spark their curiosity and imagination, and to feel joyful and “raw” - almost like a sigh of relief.

THE creative process

Sonja’s approach to painting are equal parts deliberate and intuitive, moving between structure and spontaneity to create rhythm, aliveness and visual momentum. She likes to work with a loose idea, often starting out with sketches, and/or predetermined colour combinations, always going for the colours that make her own heart sing - hoping to convey the same feeling in the viewer. Her preferred medium is acrylic paint, but she occasionally uses gouache, oil pastels, wax pencils, oil and oil sticks. Sonja loves working with paper, especially for the way it contributes to give an artwork the feel of “rawness”, fragility and impermanence, and she puts a lot of effort into creating surfaces on canvas that mimic paper. Experimentation is an essential part of her process, and she stays open to coincidences and surprises.

Sonja finds most of her visual references and inspiration in the little things she surrounds herself with, and the colour memories that these generate, such as; nature, the marina near her home, flowers in the garden and in the wild, art history, travels, fashion and architecture. Sonja’s work is informed by fauvism, abstract expressionism and the colour field painting movement, and the work of e.g. Ellsworth Kelly, Imi Knoebel, Helen Frankenthaler and last, but not least, Henri Matisse (for his entire vibe and colour approach).

THE Background

Before committing fully to painting, Sonja’s professional journey spanned several creative and human-centred fields. Her education includes a bachelor of early childhood education, a masters degree in psychology and several university courses in photography, visual communication and graphic design. She began her career as an early years teacher (including five years in China, which affected her deeply), later worked as a lifestyle photographer and food stylist, and then practiced as a couple’s therapist — each phase sharpening her sensitivity to nuance, presence and the richness of lived experience. Over time, her lifelong engagement with creativity and visual expression led her to focus seriously on fine art and develop a studio practice grounded in her love of colour.