Sonya Clemons connects to her audience by relating to their experiences, surroundings, and memories. Her most recent paintings feature her mother’s hands completing everyday tasks. A familiar touchstone that reaches us all.
Sonya often sits with her mother as she snaps beans or prepares biscuit dough, and takes note of the motions of her mother’s hands and the tools that she uses to complete her work. There is a sense of nostalgia in the patterns of her dishcloths or the type of colander that she uses to catch her beans. The woman in these paintings is everyone’s mother, or grandmother.
Known in her native Alabama as The Artlady, Sonya has painted a number of public murals, including for the cities of Madison and Stevenson. She also founded an art program in her county called Pictures of Hope, which offers art classes to adults and children involved in the Jackson County Drug Court and Family Wellness Court. Pictures of Hope provides a positive form of self-expression, stress relief, confidence building, and creative outlet to participants.
As Sonya says, “Art is the only thing I know how to do, it’s how I communicate with people. I don’t know how to do it any other way.”
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Selected Works
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Mama Making Biscuits
Mama Breaking Beans
Mama Slicing Peaches
Mama Making Cinnamon Buns
