STATEMENT ABOUT WORK

THE MAXIMAL APPROACH

My work presents a massive series of multiple images with shifting horizons and differing vantage points. The paintings are acrylics and collages drawn from other artists and photographers to capitalize upon the widest experiences and offer maximum diversity and   represent not only the material world but also the spiritual one. We are all traveling in space and moving through time.  My intent is to expand in accord with current possibilities, a cyberspace, internet, world-wide web universe. My Maximal Art approach is relevant to events and issues such as 9/11 and its effect upon the present and future

Technical Statement

            My  paintings employ acrylic paint along with collage which is  the equivalent of the computer’s “cut, drag and paste.”   To collage segments  I cut  out printed photographs   which are  then temporarily pasted to  canvas with a non-permanent substance such as Tack-A-Note, although originally I used Scotch tape. I  started with oil paint but shifted to acrylics. As I painted areas and added  more and more images, until I was satisfied with the overall look, at which time I applied permanent acrylic gel and varnish.

A  MAXIMAL APPROACH TO SIMPLIFY THE COMPLEX

            Eons ago,  people began an effort to simplify the complexity of life–the things they saw, smelled, heard, touched, tasted and thought about. One  method was through art.  With a stick in the sand or a rock on a cave wall they created  images that separated objects, subjects, places from the panorama of time and space.

           I have chosen to simplify the complex by what I call a Maximal Approach. My work presents a massive series of multiple images with shifting horizons and differing vantage points. The paintings are acrylics and collages drawn from other artists and photographers to capitalize upon the widest experiences and offer maximum diversity. I want to capture both the material and spiritual worlds. We are all traveling in space and moving through time.  My intent is to expand in accord with current possibilities, a cyberspace, internet, world-wide web universe. The approach is relevant to events and issues such as 9/11 and its effect upon the present and future. It is  holistic,  showing “the big picture” as in Gestalttheory.  Maximal Art is art of addition,  all encompassing, to include even the kitchen sink, as in my painting Interiors, Exteriors.

SONIA S. ASTOR

Galleries and Exhibitions:

Installation and Paintings Hammond Museum, North Salem, NY

Palisades Room, Hudson River Museum Dual Show with Ted Astor

Westchester Community College: Solo Show “Sonia Astor, A World Of Her Own” Installation and Paintings

Brooklyn Museum                   Hudson River Museum

Hudson River Contemporary Artists  Bridge Gallery, White

75th, Hudson River Museum, Mixed   Plains, NY., Media Award.

Scarsdale Library w/Ted Astor

Hudson River Contemporary  Artists Hudson River Contemporary

Print Show, Hammond Museum         Artists, Hammond Museum         North Salem, NY                    North Salem, NY

Greenburgh Multi-Purpose Center    Brownson Gallery

with T. Astor Elmsford NY          Manhattanville College

River Gallery, Irvington, NY       Purchase, NY

with T. Astor)                     Womens’ Interart Center NYC

Westchester Arts Council, White    Reader’s Digest, Pleasantville Plains, NY                         NY

Kraft General Foods, White Plains  Smolin Gallery, NYC             Wainwright House, Rye, NY,         NYC                             Fine Arts Gallery at Gallimaufry,  Nardin Gallery, NYC,

Croton, NY, Solo Show              Solo Show

Organizer and Exhibitor, First     Hudson River Museum,          Art Show, World Future Society     Artists of Special Talent     Conference, NYC                 (Six large works)

Teaching and Lectures:

Scarsdale (NY) Adult School          Scarsdale Art Center

Red Barn Studio, Hartsdale, NY       YM-YWHA New Rochelle, NY

World Future Society, NYC            Calif. Inst. Tech.,Pasadena

Reviews & Comments:   “Most memorable, however, is  Sonia Sacoder

Astor who makes landscapes with collage and paint that include     a myriad of small images–missiles,astronauts, war and rural scenes-that  add up to Hieronymous Bosch-like visions.”—Vivien Raynor,                                    New York Times

Educated in Brooklyn public schools, studied art education at Pratt Institute, painting and graphics at Art Students League.