Inaugural Mavis Hall Grant winner, Sonya Thoms, will tell you about her journey, her ‘year of living curiously’.

About the Exhibitor (Mavis Hall Trust Grant recipient)

Sonya Jane Thoms is a re-emerging Canberra-based artist. She comes from a visual arts background, with a BA in Textiles and Printmaking from the Canberra School of Art. Her portrait ‘Unfinished Business’, of Neville Perkins, was selected for the SBS Portrait Prize, 2020.

“Receiving the Mavis Hall Grant Award, has been a fantastic opportunity to explore new mediums, further develop my skills in painting and delve into the creative world of the portraiture genre. In the past nine months I have felt both challenged and rewarded by the discovery of what portraiture means to me and the importance of storytelling through my paintings. I’ve learnt a lot about my own process of art making. I have also pushed myself out of my comfort zone, experienced many highs and lows, and made some wonderful new discoveries along the way. In my year of living curiously, my aim was to be gutsy, stimulate my creative growth through exploration and experimentation, embrace my mistakes, and share my artistic adventures and learnings with my CAW tribe. I hope you are feeling curious too and will join me on the 25th of June for ‘Exposé’.”