Biography

Sonia Calderón has been expressing herself as an artist since she was a child. Raised in Berkeley, California and Minneapolis, Minnesota, Sonia’s professional career as an abstract painter explores the intense intersection of the seen and unseen. With a unique eye for juxtaposition, the abstraction in her work is guided by her intuitive pursuit of emotional undercurrents and personal experience. She has lived and painted in Berlin, Northern California, Los Angeles, and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Artist Statement

Sonia Calderon’s Lip series began with the vivid impression that her mother’s lipstick collection made on her as a child. A high-powered attorney who often represented women, Sonia’s mother’s lipsticks encompassed a range of hues, her favorite ones worn to a point, and the exotic, raw power of this off-limits collection of tubes fascinated the five-year-old Sonia, who was already beginning to explore paint. As an adult and seasoned abstract painter, Sonia entered her fixation with lips—and the importance of women’s voices—as she grieved her mother’s premature death by addiction. The resulting “Lips” series is as varied as lipstick: some are blurred and diffuse, others echo like pop art, many are undeniably suggestive, and all are composed with Sonia’s heartfelt conviction to uncover each individual story—that of love, tragedy, loss, serenity, sensuality and sheer femininity—beneath the surface.