Sonia Stanyard

Sonia Stanyard was awarded a BA in Fine Art from Southampton Institute of Higher Education in 1999. Stanyard is inspired by the natural world and focuses particular attention on trees. Her images are hauntingly beautiful and enigmatic reminiscent in style to the nineteenth century Russian landscape painters using a cool, subtle palette evoking dim lighting conditions and an undertone of melancholy. The more Romantic vision of the painter Casper David Friedrich and also the forest scenes of Klimt are also inspirations behind her work.

In November 2007 she was awarded a residency at the Vermont Studio Center, USA, the largest artists’ and writers’ residency programme in the US. Her work has been shown in several galleries in the UK including Waterhouse & Dodd in London.