Sonya Fe: “Three Blocks From Dogtown”

SONYA FE: “THREE BLOCKS FROM DOGTOWN” 

JUNE 11, 2022- JULY 9, 2022

Eastern Projects is pleased to announce: “Three Blocks from Dogtown”, a solo exhibition by Sonya Fe. Show runs from Saturday, June 11, 2022, to Saturday, July 9, 2022. The opening reception takes place on Saturday, June 11, 2022, 5pm- 9pm. This event is free and open to the public.

This exhibition reflects social and cultural issues centering around women and children, a biographical depiction of the Fe’s own life and of those often overlooked. Most of these paintings reflect the many facets of being female and Fe’s own experiences as a woman. She paints for women, and to show them they are not alone with all their doubts, pain, confusion, sexuality, and joys.

“I believe that children should be painted with honor. A child deserves the respect to be painted not as a cute little angel, but as a person with dignity. Not everything in a child’s world is simple. They are the best subject to paint because they host a wide spectrum of characters and personalities. I find that I can relate most closely with children, which is why I paint them so often.” – Sonya Fe

ABOUT SONYA FE

Sonya Fe grew up drawing with chalk and crayons on the cement floors of her family’s Los Angeles home known as Dogtown— Each day, a new masterpiece was created and then mopped clean by her mother each night. Her father, Joseph M. Williams would often take her to draw in parks and the neighborhood. Her brothers, sisters, and mother were supportive of her focused interest in art. At age 13, Sonya won an art scholarship to attend a summer program at Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles. She then went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Her beautifully executed paintings often focused on the plight of women and children.

 During the pandemic, to protest the horrible treatment of migrant children being locked in cages, Fe created eight large-scale murals in Las Cruces, New Mexico – each 50 feet long – to document this inhuman travesty. These can be viewed at www.sonyafe.com/home/murals. Additionally, Sonya was commissioned by the California Lottery to paint a mural for Latino Heritage month, which hangs at the MALDEF headquarters located Downtown Los Angeles, CA. Her work has been exhibited in museums and galleries throughout California, nationwide and also in Mexico and Japan. Fe’s work can be found in numerous private and public collections including the CCH Pounder Collection; the Cheech Marin Collection; the Carnegie Art Museum in Oxnard, California; and most notably, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC. Fe has taught at the College of the Redwoods in Humboldt County, California. She has published children’s stories and a drawing book, and is the co-founder of Publishing Children’s Stories, a program for elementary schools that teaches to integrate literacy, art, and technology. The artist is also an art editor and a writer for Joaquin magazine, a California-based publication, furthermore she has been published in numerous other magazines. Sonya has a book coming out soon called “Barrio Girl Goes to Europe” and other stories.