Shape of Loss
Sadness leaves marks—
delicate imprints, transient yet profound.
Vein‘s Palette, 静脉的颜色
Oil on canvas
20x25cm, 2023
We dread its arrival,
yet quietly mourn its departure.
Light, 光
Oil on canvas
120x96cm, 2023
Within its muted shadows,
beauty softly resounds.
How do we give form to pain,
preserve traces of what fades?
Rose Boy, 玫瑰少年
Oil on canvas
96x120cm, 2023
Could we embrace this melancholy,
Crystallize sorrow into lasting visual poetry,
Carefully framing each fading bruise,
A testament that sadness, too, holds luminous shape?
Corner, 外婆家的角落
Oil on canvas
40x50cm, 2024
Interviewing
Sonia Jia
EST8: In your work, there's a clear feminine visual language and persistent exploration of intimacy. Is your personal history the primary impulse behind your creations?
Sonia: Family bonds and friendships have always anchored my curiosity. Wounds, especially, serve as a consistent thematic inquiry within my practice.
Grandma, 外婆
Oil on canvas
20x20cm, 2024
Oil on canvas
20x20cm, 2024
EST8: Why do these themes hold such significant weight in your exploration?
Sonia: Certain intimacies emerge precisely because we reveal our wounds. A wound isn’t merely a mark of the past; it can connect people profoundly, drawing them closer. Within these relationships forged in vulnerability, I seek energies of healing and cohesion.
EST8: How does sharing vulnerability foster healing or cohesion?
Sonia: Deeply influenced by philosopher Judith Butler and insights from "The Politics of Touch in Contemporary Western European Cinema", I've reflected extensively on mourning's transformative potential. At our most fragile moments—when we expose ourselves and seek external reassurance—this mutual reliance and openness generate profound strength. Many intimacies originate precisely here. Grief, mourning, and pain don’t have to be negative; they can be gateways to renewal and optimism.
Floating, 浮沉
Oil on canvas
235x170cm, 2023
Oil on canvas
235x170cm, 2023
EST8: In fragile moments, we often seek comfort from external sources. But is this solace truly beneficial, or merely a lifeline grasped in desperation?
Sonia: At the precise moment you grasp that lifeline, it’s exactly what you need—it’s undeniably authentic. Life is an endless collection of such authentic moments.
EST8: But doesn’t dividing life into fleeting moments risk fragmenting it?
Sonia: Life itself is a state comprised of innumerable moments. To maintain coherence, we must consciously inhabit moments we deem meaningful. For me, life's poetry emerges precisely from subtle emotional fluctuations—emptiness after celebration, calmness after collective release. These fleeting emotional landscapes are the essence of my artistic inquiry.
Kid, 孩
Oil on canvas
96x120cm, 2023
Oil on canvas
96x120cm, 2023
EST8: Yet these delicate moments are transient and ever-changing. Over time, they might resurface as new wounds—doesn't this suggest an endless cycle?
Sonia: This cycle is subjective; each person interprets it differently.
Guanyin, 观音
Oil on canvas
20x25cm, 2024
EST8: Are you genuinely at peace with every arrival and departure?
Sonia: Emotional fluctuation is inevitable. Precisely because of this inevitability, I strive to transform it into something else—another form of energy.
Fading Bruise (IV), 逐渐淡去的淤青 (IV)
Oil on plaster
22x18cm, 2023
Fading Bruise (III), 逐渐淡去的淤青 (III)
Oil on plaster
20x25cm, 2023
EST8: Would you describe your creative practice as self-healing?
Sonia: It’s more akin to questioning and exploration. I’m curious whether sadness can be transformed into an aesthetic form.
EST8: Indeed, that's precisely why your series Fading Bruises resonates deeply with us. Within this series, we notice diverse visual expressions—distinctive patterns on frames, varied subject matter—all contained within a coherent visual logic.
Fading Bruise (IV), 逐渐淡去的淤青 (IV)
Oil on plaster
22x18cm, 2023
Fading Bruise (VI), 逐渐淡去的淤青 (VI)
Oil on plaster
16x15.5cm, 2023
Sonia: It's both a documentation and preservation of transient traces—a visual crystallization of fading moments. Bruises fade, images persist. By employing frames, I simulate suspended moments, preserving nuances of wounds otherwise easily overlooked. Just as many life events quietly fade without active preservation, history itself, though invisible, permeates everything—it is never truly forgotten.
Fading Bruise (I), 逐渐淡去的淤青 (I)
Oil on plaster
15x15cm, 2023
Poems, No.12
Mixed media on wood panel
30x20cm, 2024
Guanyin, 观音
Oil on canvas
20x25cm, 2024
EST8: Are you genuinely at peace with every arrival and departure?
Sonia: Emotional fluctuation is inevitable. Precisely because of this inevitability, I strive to transform it into something else—another form of energy.
Fading Bruise (IV), 逐渐淡去的淤青 (IV)
Oil on plaster
22x18cm, 2023
Fading Bruise (III), 逐渐淡去的淤青 (III)
Oil on plaster
20x25cm, 2023
EST8: Would you describe your creative practice as self-healing?
Sonia: It’s more akin to questioning and exploration. I’m curious whether sadness can be transformed into an aesthetic form.
EST8: Indeed, that's precisely why your series Fading Bruises resonates deeply with us. Within this series, we notice diverse visual expressions—distinctive patterns on frames, varied subject matter—all contained within a coherent visual logic.
Fading Bruise (IV), 逐渐淡去的淤青 (IV)
Oil on plaster
22x18cm, 2023
Fading Bruise (VI), 逐渐淡去的淤青 (VI)
Oil on plaster
16x15.5cm, 2023
Sonia: It's both a documentation and preservation of transient traces—a visual crystallization of fading moments. Bruises fade, images persist. By employing frames, I simulate suspended moments, preserving nuances of wounds otherwise easily overlooked. Just as many life events quietly fade without active preservation, history itself, though invisible, permeates everything—it is never truly forgotten.
Fading Bruise (I), 逐渐淡去的淤青 (I)
Oil on plaster
15x15cm, 2023
Poems, No.12
Mixed media on wood panel
30x20cm, 2024
CREDITS
Back Drop Photo 1
Rose Boy, 玫瑰少年
Oil on canvas
96x120cm, 2023
Rose Boy, 玫瑰少年
Oil on canvas
96x120cm, 2023
Back Drop Photo 2
Kid, 孩
Oil on canvas
96x120cm, 2023
Kid, 孩
Oil on canvas
96x120cm, 2023
SONIA JIA
Born in 2000 in Ukraine, now works and livesin London and Hangzhou.
¨Last month, a thumb-sized rash appeared on my waist. Because it happened to be at the edge of my pants, the scabs that formed would often rub due to friction, and I couldn't resist scratching it repeatedly, causing it to now become a faint pink-brown scar. It doesn't bleed, just occasionally, faintly, gently sending out a prickling itch, intermittently catching my attention.
In fact, bruises or superficial cuts often appear on people's knees without knowing when, causing intense pain. However, after a few days, lifting up the clothes a few times to check, one would find that they slowly fade away, disappearing very calmly, and not persistently bothering like this rash does.
This inevitably reminds me of the many photos I've been repeatedly viewing online for the past few months, such as those recorded by Japanese military doctor Aso Tetsuo in From Shanghai to Shanghai (上海より上海へ) as well as some scenes taken by unknown Japanese/Korean/Chinese soldiers, some of which are also included in A Faithful Record of Atrocity of Japanese Troops (日寇暴行实录): female students lying in the dark and dilapidated ruins, boats transporting women, open collars forced open... If not actively looking them up, this information might just disappear as cleanly as those initial bruises that made people grit their teeth in daily life... With this feeling, these plaster frames slowly appeared. These plaster frames were made by molding small framed photos I collected, all commonly seen, exquisite styles available in the market, to use these everyday frames to record some "gradually fading bruises."
Sonia Jia, 2023.08.15, Excerpt from the diary
EDUCATION
2023 MA Painting, Royal College of Art (RCA), London, UK
2022 BA, Merit Scholarship Recipient, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), Chicago, IL, US
2022 BA, Merit Scholarship Recipient, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), Chicago, IL, US
EXHIBITIONS
2023 Milan's International Modern and Contemporary Art Fair, MIART, Milan, Italy
2023 Dual Solo Exhibition “Floating”,Era Gallery, Milan, Italy
2023 Group Show “Works on Paper”, Thames-side Studios, London, UK
2022 Work published in Art Maze Magazine, Art Maze, London, UK
2022 Annual art fair：The ninth edition of West Bund Art & Design, West Bund Art Center, Shanghai, China
2022 Group exhibition：“Fables” curated by Luca Colombelli and William Schaeuble, Povoschicago, Chicago, US
2021 Global Graduation Show: “Remote Landing” curated by Shaofeng Duan, Lanng Space, Beijing, China
2021 Group exhibition project: “OPEN EXHIBITION” curated by Qibin Shen, Yellow box Art museum, Qingdao, China
2021 Group exhibition project: “Summer Paradise” curated by Shaohan Cui, ECM Art Space, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
2021 Group exhibition project: “Will the ceramic panda dream of little frog” curated by Yan Sun and Lillian, 571 Art Space, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
2021 Group exhibition project: “Infinite Finiteness” curated by Xi Wang, Restart Space, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
2021 Group exhibition project: “Everyday Sphere” curated by Qinru Zhou, Cub_ism Art Space, Shanghai, China
2021 Group exhibition project: “Reflections” curated by David Chen, Qiantang Bay Art Museum, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
2018 Group exhibition project: “Bang!” curated by Sonia Jia, Into Studio, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
CONTENT CREATIVE: EST8 MAG