Sonia Roseval
Understanding of the world.
Symbolism of Unity and Consciousness:
Japanese ink on art paper, created through freehand drawing and inspired by my meditation, is a captivating expression of the my inner world and my connection to the larger universe. The delicate lace-like patterns, formed by circular and geometric shapes with repetitive lines, symbolize the unity of consciousness. Through my intuitive brushstrokes, these forms come together to represent a harmonious whole, reflecting the interconnectedness of all beings. Japanese ink on paper art serves as a reminder of the profound beauty and unity that can be found through artistic expression and the practice of meditation. It invites viewers to contemplate their own place within the interconnected web of existence and to embrace the conscious unity that binds us beings.
Sonia Roseval, a dynamic artist whose journey spans continents and cultures, was born in Tunis, Tunisia, and moved to Montreal as a child. Influenced by her intellectually inquisitive father and creatively skilled mother, Sonia’s early life was filled with wonder and curiosity. At the age of twelve, she began drawing portraits, an early indicator of her artistic path.
Self-taught but nurtured by a supportive community, Sonia’s techniques evolved organically, heavily guided by intuition and meditation. Her artwork often features intricate sewing patterns inspired by her mother, symbolizing deeper states of consciousness. This personal yet universally resonant approach forms the core of her creative exploration.
Rich in diverse influences from her travels, Sonia’s work also draws inspiration from masters like De Kooning and Cy Twombly. She has strong ties to the Lasalle Artist Association and L’Aquarium Foundation, which provide platforms for her unique vision.
Sonia’s art has been showcased in galleries across North America, including the Marden Art Gallery in Pointe-Claire, the Gallery of Nova Scotia, the Gallery of Greater Victoria, the Pierre Boucher Museum, and the Museum of Mont-Saint-Hilaire. She has received accolades such as the Honorable Mention at the 2023 AIMPE Japan Awagami Mini Print Japanese Juried Exhibit, the Prize for Harmony for Humanity in 2024, the International Prize Leonardo Da Vinci in Milan, and the International Prize Phoenix in the Arts in Venice.
Featured in publications like the Art in America guide and Art Virtuoso catalogue, as well as the cover of Revue Plastir, Sonia’s global presence continues to grow. Notable collectors include the L'Assemblée National du Quebec and the Aquarium Foundation in Montreal.
Sonia Roseval’s evolving journey underscores her commitment to touching lives globally through art, which she regards as a vital element of contemporary life. Her work represents her core values, making a compelling case for the indispensable role of art in society.
Sonia, your art weaves together ancestral memory, meditative practice, and material experimentation, often on delicate substrates like washi and yupo. How do you reconcile the ephemeral qualities of your materials with the enduring spiritual truths your work seeks to convey?
For me spiritual truths are on metaphysical level. Therefore too subtle to see with the naked eye. Yet we know the metaphysical world exists. The art I create is a metaphor and a representation of what I believe happens metaphysically. The delicate substracts I use are also a metaphor to describe the subtlety of the metaphysical world on a physical level.
Having been born in Tunisia, raised in Montreal, and recently influenced by your time in Japan, your practice exists in a confluence of geographies and cultural energies. How has this migratory identity informed your aesthetic vocabulary and choice of techniques?
I weave a bigger web of connections between us in my travels.It reinforces the technique of creating bigger patterns.Colors and moods I felt in Japan translate in my work.
You’ve spoken of the influence your father’s biochemistry lab had on your imagination, particularly his approach to drawing formulas from nature. In what ways does your current use of foraged materials and homemade pigments represent a kind of alchemical lineage in you’re artmaking?
I think that my artmaking is actually foredging a path to understand myself more deeply and finding more surprising and astonishing techniques to make my art communicate deeper with the world.
So I think that my father’s work went in that direction with his quest of natural products and the results he got. We both believe in taking our filtered materials to continue to do good in humanity
Your meditative discipline and your artistic practice seem inseparable. How does your experience of meditation shape the rhythms, gestures, and spatial dynamics of your compositions? Is there a moment of “arrival” in your process that signals the piece is spiritually complete?
Take a dancer that does a beautiful improvisation dance. Her body moves and they are creating movements that sends messages to the viewer that makes one feel awe and or many feelings or sensations that can run through our own bodies.We do not see but we have experienced a physical bond with the artist and her movements. There is a metaphor I am describing and it is felt when completed like the dancer.
Nature in your work is not simply a subject it is an active collaborator. How do you interpret your artistic role in relation to the natural world: as translator, channel, or witness?
All three I think.It depends what part of the process I am in that my role changes.
Your use of repetition—be it in stitching patterns inspired by sashiko or the rhythmic lines of trees—suggests a fascination with ritual. Do you see your creative process as a form of sacred repetition, and if so, how does that manifest differently across media such as mokuhanga, engraving, and ink drawing?
If it is sacred for me which it is then it will reflect in all the work I do…All of my work are all interdependent. In mokuhanga the design expresses the repetition. Also in preparation to doing the woodcutting is. Every step requires or has a ceremonial aspect it.
You’ve mentioned the brushstroke of Soulages, the energy of De Kooning, and the lyricism of Twombly. How do you integrate the sensibilities of these male titans of abstraction into a language that remains distinctly your own and unmistakably feminine in its sensitivity and strength?
They are inspirational for me in understanding theirs energies and that is what translates in my work in my style and ethos.
In the age of rapid digitization and hyper-visual saturation, your work insists on slowness, intuition, and tactility. What does this countercultural approach offer to a contemporary audience increasingly detached from material processes?
A remembrance of our roots and our innate connection to our source.
Your upcoming solo show highlights the importance of process as much as product. Could you speak to the ethical and philosophical implications of demystifying your process to viewers? Is vulnerability part of your intention?
I think I use decernament therefore vulnerability is not in the picture. Nothing is written in stone though.Everything morphes into form. I process in my mind what is abstract and it crystalizes into form.
Looking toward future projects, including your exploration of sashiko, what conceptual frontiers are you most eager to chart? Might there be an eventual convergence of textile and pigment in your work, where drawing, sewing, and spiritual practice dissolve into one unified gesture?
That could very well happen!