Sonia J. - "Lamplight"- Earth Collection 2024/2025 - XL

Lamplight is a unique contemporary abstract painting by Sonia J. (born 1971, Portugal), executed in acrylics on 100% raw, unprimed cotton. Fully painted, the work belongs to the artist’s Earth Collection (2024), the foundational series that marked the beginning of her current artistic cycle and subsequent international recognition.

The artwork measures 106 × 98 cm and includes an additional 7–10 cm margin to allow for precise professional stretching on a 4–5 cm wooden stretcher, ensuring correct tension, durability, and museum-standard presentation once mounted. The raw, unprimed cotton allows pigment to penetrate the fiber directly, producing soft transitions, vertical light traces, and a surface marked by depth and absorption.

The title Lamplight refers to the painting’s visual resonance with classic British landscapes of mystery and nature, evoking heathlands, dusk light, and the subdued, suspense-laden atmospheres associated with the world of Sherlock Holmes. The vertical chromatic accents suggest distant light sources cutting through fog or twilight—an allusion rather than a depiction—maintaining the integrity of abstraction while inviting narrative projection.

This painting is a one-of-a-kind original, signed on the reverse and bearing the artist’s official stamp of authenticity. It is accompanied by a signed Certificate of Authenticity and comes directly from the artist’s studio, with no prior ownership history.

The artwork is in excellent condition, with no restorations. Any tonal variations, vertical drips, or surface irregularities are intentional and intrinsic to the artist’s process, reinforcing the work’s material and conceptual coherence.

The painting will be shipped rolled in a rigid protective tube, professionally packed for secure international transport. This method preserves the integrity of the raw cotton and allows the collector full flexibility for professional stretching and framing according to curatorial or private standards.

As an early work from the Earth Collection (2024)—the series that initiated the artist’s current trajectory—Lamplight represents a time-sensitive acquisition opportunity for collectors and investors seeking foundational pieces with both narrative depth and long-term curatorial relevance.

Artist Statement
Sonia J.’s practice explores grounding, memory, and transformation through material-driven abstraction. Working with unprimed cotton, layered acrylics, and tactile surfaces, she treats painting as a physical and psychological act of anchoring. Her work reflects a transition from decades in high-level executive leadership to a fully embodied artistic practice, resulting in paintings that are emotionally restrained, materially rich, and conceptually precise. The Earth series represents the root system of this practice—where matter, silence, and presence take precedence over narrative.

Sonia J.’s artistic trajectory reached a decisive inflection point between 2024 and 2025, marked by international recognition, institutional validation, and sustained curatorial exposure across Europe. During this period, her work expanded into new private collections and gained visibility within the contemporary abstraction scene at both market and institutional levels.

She was named among the Top 10 Berlin Contemporary Artists (2024–2025), an international recognition for excellence in contemporary abstraction, and was a nominee for the Premio Internazionale Artista d’Europa 2025, presented in Venice, Italy, acknowledging her emerging yet visionary contribution to European contemporary art. In June 2025, her work received an official AKOUN valuation, with a benchmark of €550 for format 15P (65 × 50 cm), reinforcing her growing market credibility. Her artworks are featured on leading international platforms including Singulart, Artmajeur, and Artprice.com.

Her exhibition history includes participation in major international contemporary art fairs and curated shows such as the 5th International Contemporary Art Fair (IT’S LIQUID Group) in Barcelona (July 2025), the Braga Contemporary Art Exhibition in Portugal (September 2025), and SensesART (IT’S LIQUID Group) in Lecce, Italy (December 2025). She was also awarded Artist of the Month by IT’S LIQUID Group (September 2025) and featured in an in-depth interview with curator Luca Curci, discussing her artistic process and approach to contemporary abstraction.

In Italy, her work has been presented in prominent gallery and institutional contexts, including Galleria Art Spazio Tempo in Venice (December 2025), Galleria Cael in Milan as part of the curatorial program “Gifts of Art – L’estetica del Dono”, and the MUST Museum in Southern Italy (December 2025 – January 2026), underscoring her increasing institutional presence. In parallel, Sonia J. has been commissioned for large-scale art installations in hotels and spas in Italy, demonstrating the adaptability and architectural relevance of her work beyond traditional exhibition spaces.

Her practice has been further strengthened through high-level professional feedback, including portfolio reviews with Charlotte Paritzky (Director of Z&B Gallery and Co-Founder of OBRA Art), Quentin Métayer (PR & Communications, Perrotin), and Flavio Scaloni (Gallery Manager, Galerie Lo Scalo), positioning her within a serious, internationally engaged curatorial network.