Sonia Alins

Sonia Alins is an illustrator and artist focused on the creation of pieces of art (often three-dimensional) with a poetic narrative of a surreal nature with which she addresses her feelings, desires, dreams and nightmares. Sonia makes extensive use of the human figure (mostly feminine) and, at the same time, she explores the expressiveness of elements such as transparency and blur.

Sonia obtained a Bachelor in Fine Arts, followed by a post-graduate from the University of Salamanca and later graduated with an illustration specialism from the University of Barcelona.

For nearly two decades, Sonia has had a very successful career as a professional illustrator alongside which she created works following her own interests and passion. She has received many international illustration awards including, the 2019 Award of Excellence, Communication Arts Illustration Annual 60, CA, California/USA, the 2019 Gold Award (Design Lotus. Illustration category) and Silver Award (Print Craft Lotus. Best use of illustration category), ADFEST 2019, Bangkok/Thailand, as well as the 2018 Gold Award, Global illustration Award 2018, Frankfurt Book Fair, Frankfurt/Germany.

Sonia's work has been frequently selected for participation in group shows, often in the context of illustration showcases and festivals. Her first solo exhibition 'Somnis Emergents' (Emerging Dreams) was held at the County Museum of Urgell-Tarrega in Lleida, Spain which then toured to the Espai 31-33 Art Gallery in 2019. More recently she has had a very successful solo presentation in Madrid called 'Mar Interior' (Inner Sea).

Artist statement

"My work as an artist is a catalyst for my reflections, often associated to personal experiences, from my life and, also, my dreams. That is why, in my artworks, there are clear references to womanhood, feminism, married life, family, memory or the passing of time, treated under a dreamlike, poetic and minimalist prism."

The greatest exponent of my current creative process is my series "Dones d'aigua" (Water Women). In these works, the protagonists of the pieces interact with the mass of water they are immersed in and, there, their feelings are amplified, their shouts are heard louder, their desperation is felt more profoundly… But also, when they are calm, it feels like a more rewarding emotion too. Thus, the “Dones d'aigua" series has become for me an aesthetic research on emotions where water becomes a visual and symbolic element that helps to transmit them. My aim is that, through the physical relation between the character and the aquatic medium, the viewer can experience the soul of the character, an emotion, her energy: anguish, fear, sorrow, peace, joy."