Poster 11     © Sonja Daub	Poster 39     © Sonja Daub

Sonja Daub

Biography

My name is Sonja. I was born in 1966 and raised in the Bronx up until the
age of 21. I am now 36 years old and reside in the beautiful upstate, New
York region. My family background includes artists living both in America
and Frankfurt Germany, engaged in architectural and blue print engineering.
 
My true fascination in art is contained mainly within the observation and
experimentation of various shapes - both complex and simplistic -
representing non-objective abstract designs. Although I do not classify
myself as a surrealist, I am fascinated and inspired by the many gifted and
talented artists in that arena of our past and present! My attraction
towards surrealism can be observed in some of my work, but I believe the
work I do combines surrealism with design; if that makes sense. In other
words, when thinking of surrealism, perhaps the first thing that comes to
mind is the illusions that are rendered in the form of an illustration of
known things such as a figurative display or of a landscape setting for
example. Surrealism can contain a hidden objective in either the figurative
representation of people or everyday known objects, places or things.
Surrealism in a design sense on the other hand portrays nonobjective
intentions but is still depicted in an illusionist fashion. I use the
expression "surrealism in design" to explain how I see my work. The
majority of my creations are "designs" of things never seen before, yet
they can look familiar to the viewer. It is possible that one may associate
a meaning behind the piece, yet the observer cannot be certain if the
artist intended for the piece to be seen as such. 
 
What I enjoy most of all, not only in my own work, but in other works, is
to have the opportunity to draw an individual conclusion from the piece.
Art has a high degree of interest when viewers tell a different story about
what they see. An objective work is finished, there is a story to be told
by the artist and that is the final word. There is an ending in works that
represent a story. It is finalized. There is much beauty to observe in
objective works and I have a great deal of respect for artists that share
intimate moments of expression through art with a finalized story, but my
passion and sheer joy of the heart comes from the offer I make to give
observers the chance to express themselves. In turn, not only do I learn
more about myself, I learn about people as well. When I create something,
the overall goal is to have fun. Only upon completion, I interpret its
meaning. Many artists plan their ideas before they start. I like to start
with nothing and end up with something I had no plan to create. Sure, I can
plan out a piece, but the fun is in allowing the inner child to come out
and play. The overall conclusion is that I utterly enjoy the surprise
factor in art and I try to avoid finalization in my work.
 
When I create a "surprise," all materials, tools and supplies come together
on a clean white canvas in the meeting place of my art studio - Adobe
Photoshop. First, using Photoshop's tools, I experiment and play with an
endless number of shapes until I "see" something that has potential. When
the shape takes on a new beginning, I compile, mutate, distort, color and
multiply one or more shapes numerous times until I see further growth of a
new beginning. From there, I may incorporate one or more digital photos
that I have taken and work them into the design. At that point, the
surprise element temporarily disappears and the rest is planned out. In the
planning phase, I may also enhance the design further by including a
charcoal drawing or a doodled design from my sketchbook. As time goes by,
the intensity of planning is overcome by what once started out to be a
surprise. The focus from beginning to end is always to nurture my creation
with the intention of having an outcome where viewers are allowed to have
fun with the exploration of different interpretations that may arise out of
viewing my work. Also, the focus is to think in constant terms of
nonobjective, to avoid creating something that looks like something.
Finally, once the piece is complete, I engage in interpretation and then
choose a title for it. The best part though is saved for last. What starts
out as a surprise, turns into a well thought out plan which in turn ends up
a surprise again. How so? When I ask observers for their interpretation of
what they see, I always get a different story. There is always an element
of surprise in the creation of art, that is what I love the most! 
 
My artistic background was born in the early teen years. In high school, I
majored in advertising art and also focused great attention on cartooning
and painting. Oh, the love I felt for drawing and painting cartoons! That
phase of my artistic journey was put to rest once the personal computer
came along! Wow, life was never the same. I was captivated by the idea of
combining my artistic abilities with the use of a personal computer,
spending endless hours practicing and experimenting with various
applications until I couldn't hold my eyes open any longer! Before I knew
it, I was creating everything from artistic business cards to web pages and
much more! I thought art was so much fun that I couldn't possibly make a
career out of it! Instead, I pursued an associates degree in applied
science. After graduating college, I found a job working for two
chiropractors. They learned early on of my artistic abilities and kept me
very busy with many graphic design projects. 
 
The thought: "art was so much fun that I couldn't possibly make a career
out of it!" came up again. This time, I asked myself "but why not?" - Once
I addressed that question, I had a reawakening experience and decided to go
for it! Always wanting to stay abreast of new technology and industry
standards in my field of specialty, I eagerly went back to college and
became a certified computer illustration and graphic designer as well as a
certified webmaster. I continued on to a four year college, pursuing a
Bachelors Degree in Fine Art. Presently, the majority of my time is spent
engaging in the creation of digital artworks. When time permits, I also
engage in 2D and 3D visual art projects consisting of nonobjective pieces
with a focus on exploring my spirituality. I do this through
experimentation in abstract design - using shape, color, different organic,
traditional and non traditional materials. Because I truly enjoy the
hands-on environment of creating art as well, exploring different styles
and techniques has helped me to gain more of a creative edge when using the
computer as a tool in the development of my digital art prints. My lifetime
goal as an artist is to provide unique, artistic visual expressions that
contain an infinite amount of passion that simply cannot be ignored by the
viewer. Thank you for taking the time in getting to know me a little
better.

 http://artstudio66.com/
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10.3.03