Sonja Horgan Sonja Horgan is an Irish artist originally from Serbia, she graduated from the Art Academy University of Novi Sad with a BA (Honours) in Fine Art- Painting and Teaching. In addition to the University courses, she specialized in oil on canvas and mixed media techniques under the tuition of her father Isidor Vrsajkov a renowned artist of former Yugoslavia. Sonja has done additional training in classical Sculpture as part of the Academy curriculum. Sonja's love for sculpture as a 3D type of art is one of the motivating influence for the 3D effects on her paintings. Sonja's paintings frequently have elements of collage and assemblage as various materials are often added to her paintings to create a three-dimensional effect on them. Sonja has done extensive research on old masters techniques of layering and glazing which she applies on her canvases using many resources; from learning from her father to attending workshops and studying resources and books available about the techniques and materials they used. Sonja’s recent personal experience and training in Art Therapy has had a significant influence on her artwork and style lately. Sonja resides in Kilkenny, Ireland, where she teaches art classes for groups as well as individual classes; she has participated in many group exhibitions. Sonja's paintings have been commissioned in several European countries and are in private collections. ​ Artist Statement My journey as an artist began many years ago, in my early childhood. I grew up surrounded by my father's paintings on our walls at home. The time I had spent since childhood in his art studio meant a great deal to me and familiarized me with the artistic process of classical painting and the world of visual art. I have always loved adding rich texture to the canvas. The palette knife painting technique helped me grow my fondness for abstract expressionism. In recent years, I started using all the wonderful new materials that became available to create special 3D effects on my canvases including coarse, smooth, heavy texture modelling pastes, holographic crystals, mica powder, pigments, dried flower petals and real seashells for my mixed media paintings. For me, the process itself is very important. I am never completely sure in which direction a painting is going to lead me and how it is going to turn out. However, I do have a certain starting point as I find specific themes particularly inspiring. My painting style is intuitive and very much abstract and stylized. The Ocean, its Underwater World, Seascapes and Landscapes are what fascinates me and you will often see various shades of blue, violet and orange on my paintings. I love adding often gold and bronze pigments to my paintings as I find the shine they add to a painting gives it something extra special. I recently started experimenting with 24 K gold leaf and have been adding metallic gold and silver leaf to my mixed media. My artistic process is about the balance between the beauty of vibrant colours versus rich texture and and areas of soft and light colours. My most recent art works include In the air series, Underwater world and Ethereal forest series.