SONYA LUCAS 

Artist Statement

Before my roots settled in West Virginia, I wandered through a patchwork of places—Alabama, Wyoming, North Carolina, and Virginia. At twelve, I found myself back in West Virginia, raised for a time by my grandmother. My journey into art unfolded thanks to the kindness of a retired lawyer and his wife, who, through a serendipitous connection with my high school science teacher, opened the doors to West Virginia University for me. By seventeen, I’d found a new family with that same teacher, who welcomed me as one of their own.

 

From those early steps, I went on to earn a master's degree in art & technology (multimedia) from The Ohio State University and later taught there. Today, I navigate the world of corporate multimedia and videography, yet my deepest passion remains painting.

 

My art is my way of processing trauma, of healing. It’s an alchemical practice that lets me make sense of the jagged threads of childhood, recent loss, and nostalgia—memories buried in the silences we carry. Each piece I create is an excavation, a mapping of the forgotten and unspoken moments, especially those shared with people now gone. Grief is universal, yet its loneliness is unparalleled. Losing someone is like watching a door shut on a room that holds memories only the two of you knew. As Tolkien said, “What of God’s punishments are not gifts?” Through loss, we gain a new awareness, a profound gratitude for the fleeting nature of life, realizing how brief our time is.

 

Art, for me, is storytelling. It’s about finding beauty in disparity and catharsis in creation. In my work, I don’t just create; I seek release—from depression, from the weight of memory, from the things we hesitate to speak of, but which connect us all.