_{Image courtesy of Sonya Pancucci}

Interview: Sonya Pancucci

Luca Curci talks with Sonya Pancucci during VENICE INTERNATIONAL ART FAIR 2019 at Palazzo Ca’ Zanardi.

My name is Sonya Pancucci and I am a lifelong learner. As a child and teenager I spent numerous hours drawing and painting to perfect my skills ultimately creating an 8’x12′ oil painting mural that was displayed at the entrance of my high school for 20-years. I studied at Nancy McLean Studios for a number of years and I have currently rejoined her new artists’ collective called the Hamilton Mountain Artists’ Collective. In 2016 I had major surgery and as part of my recovery I participated in art therapy with teachers Colette Verrier who instructed me in watercolour theory and Flora Spencer who taught drawing. I have been painting almost one watercolour per day to develop my abilities and I have begun working in oils as well.

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_{Image courtesy of Sonya Pancucci}

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Luca Curci – What’s your background? What is the experience that has influenced your work the most?
Sonya Pancucci – My training in university has been in the area of sciences, administration, and professional development completing five degrees and numerous professional certifications and additional qualifications. Please refer to my academic curriculum vitae for detailed information. Currently I am seriously concentrated on developing my artistic and creative abilities to enhance my lifestyle after surviving a life threatening illness and as a focus for my future career in the arts field.  The experiences that have shaped my artistic endeavours are my affinity for nature, beauty, and the impact of humankind on the earth. I have collected numerous art textbooks throughout my life and it is the impressionist artists that have inspired my artwork the most. I believe living in tranquil and beautiful surroundings enhances one’s life and therefore I have decorated my interiors with numerous antique paintings and furnishings. Also I believe strongly in recycling and hence purchasing antiques that inspire my life and artworks keeps those items from being discarded and restores them to a new life with my family.

LC – Which subject are you working on?
SP – My current artworks involve nature and my family. I have worked on painting various birds and my father who passed away in 2014. He was himself an artist and interior decorator working in Rome, Italy with the company and in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada with Harvey Sobel Interiors and Design. My mother also an artist is a fashion designer who trained at La Lamantia in Palermo, Italy and she worked for Olivia’s Haute Couture in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Both my parents’ artistic talents, honesty, and care for our family allowed us to live a secure and idyllic lifestyle together in appreciation of the arts and our natural environment. My father was also an avid gardener and we all spent hours together enjoying his flowers and beautiful surroundings that he had curated.

LC – What is your creative process like?
SP – I am inspired daily by life and the energy around us producing a painting almost every day or at least one per week. I read and view art textbooks and absorb the beauty in my surroundings both indoors and outdoors, which instill motivation to draw and to paint in watercolour and oils on a regular basis.

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_{Image courtesy of Sonya Pancucci}

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LC – Are your artworks focused on a specific theme?
SP – My projects are themed when entering a particular art show. In general, my work evolves as a projection of my personal experiences and the beauty of life that surrounds us.

LC – How is being an artist nowadays?
SP – Being an artist in the 21st century can be both inspiring and challenging competing between the old and new. Technology enhances our experience with and of the world and influences our perceptions of art and moves everything forward at lightening speed. In the past, time appeared to move more slowly and handiwork and production of artworks occurred at a slower pace or at least slower than digital art creation.

LC – We were attracted by your last artistic production, has the artwork presented been created for the festival or as a part of preexisting works?
SP – The art piece: Earth Mother/ Madre Terra was part of a preexisting collection. The theme was the women of the five elements: water, earth, fire, wind, and metal. However, your themes described below of analyzing our hidden identities and future landscapes redefining the borders and spaces between the mind, body, and the surrounding landscape fit with my piece where womankind is a piece of the landscape merging, supporting, and defining our earth as mother, protector, and builder of humankind. Themes described in detail taken from the itsliquid website: Venice International Art Fair 2019 analyzes the relationship between body and space, and the hybridization between identities and cultural/physical/social/urban settings in contemporary time, through two main sections: LIQUID ROOMS and FUTURE LANDSCAPES. LIQUID ROOMS analyzes the hidden parts of our identities, through an immersive experience inside the fascinating universe of the complex labyrinths of our consciousness. The human body is a changing system that connects us with other bodies and spaces to perceive the surrounding reality; a strong communication system with its own language and infinite ways of expression. FUTURE LANDSCAPES are abstract, infinite and conceptual, associated with a sense of freedom and infinite extension. Primarily experienced with the mind, spaces redefining their limits and borders, transforming surfaces in open flow of pure ideas. This section focuses on the concept of the borders and the structures between body, mind and soul, the human identity and the city, the space and the ground.

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_{Image courtesy of Sonya Pancucci}

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LC – Do you agree with our vision of art and what do you think about the theme of the festival?
SP – Art is an evolving consciousness interacting both with the sacred internal workings of the mind and external physical landscapes. It is a crossroads for humankind between the natural and digital reality of our world and the vision and theme of your festival captures this dichotomy between the technological, spiritual, and natural world precisely and is embodied by the works of art featured in your show. It is a visual and sensory representation of the collective consciousness and how it interacts with our world.

LC – Would you suggest a collaboration with us? What do you think about our services?
SP – I am interested in collaborating with your group in the future. Your services are well organized and your staff members are attentive, professional and friendly.

LC – What are your suggestions about our services? Is there something more we can provide to artists?
SP – I would be interested in receiving a copy of the program or cards made up for the show. Perhaps mailed back with my painting or sent by email. Several photographs of my piece in your beautiful gallery were emailed to me and I greatly appreciated the opportunity to see my piece as featured because I was unable to attend due to health reasons. The only negative point is the exhorbitant shipping costs from North America and the complexity of the return due to UPS not providing the appropriate return labels. I found the shipping process to be extremely time consuming because I spent 2-hours on the telephone twice with UPS and they still did not provide the appropriate return labels and we had great difficulty with the return of my painting. The itsliquid team especially Giulia Tassi and Nadine Bordignon were instrumental in securing my painting’s safe return to Canada. Otherwise it was an excellent experience overall!

LC – What is your idea about ITSLIQUID GROUP?
SP – The more I learn about the group, the more fascinated I become with the ITSLIQUID group. Consequently, I am encouraged to continue collaborating with your group as I am impressed by the breadth and scope of your artistic endeavours throughout the globe and your insightful themes and messages about the human experience. This is a group that I want my name associated with in future endeavours. Thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts and insights.

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_{Image courtesy of Sonya Pancucci}

_{Image courtesy of Sonya Pancucci}