Sonja Porcaro
b. South Australia, 1972
Qualifications
2006 Bachelor of Education, University of South Australia (UNISA)
1996 Digital Imaging (Distinction), the College of Fine Art (COFA), University of New South Wales (UNSW)
1993 Bachelor of Arts (Visual Arts) - Honours (First Class), South Australian School of Art (SASA) UNISA.
Professional Development
2023 One-month Residency (April), including group exhibition and artist talk, Studio Kura, Itoshima, Japan
2023 Artist talk (to undergraduate students and general public) as part of the ArtSpeak Program, Adelaide Central School of Art, SA
2023 Artist talk with (catalogue writer) Dr. Michael Newall, as part of exhibition All the Yeas/lost & found (as if snow, melting), FELTspace, SA
2022-23 11-month George Street Studio Residency, funded by the Adelaide Fringe
2021 Artist talk, Hahndorf Academy Heysen Prize for Landscape, SA
2020 Sauerbier House Cultural Exchange/Residency (including solo exhibition and artist talks) September 2020 - Jan 2021, Sauerbier House, SA
2020 Invited artist, public art panel, Onkaparinga council
2019 Guest artist talk to 2nd year Art History students (Memory, Place and History course) Adelaide Central School of Art
2019 Artist talk for PechaKucha 20 x 20, South Australian Living Artist Festival (SALA)
2019 Artist in Residence (2 months April-May), The Mill, SA
2019 Kid’s Studio- workshops with children, The Mill, SA
2018 Website Development Workshops, Guildhouse, SA
2013-2019 Practitioner and educator, Adelaide SA
2011-2012 Studio practitioner, Australian Experimental Art Foundation (AEAF) artists’ studios, SA
2009 Short-listed (Arts SA/Australia Council) Venice Biennale Gallery Assistant
2004 Gallery/Administration Assistant (casual) Anne & Gordon Samstag Museum of Art, UNISA
2004 Studio practitioner, EAF artists’ studios, SA
2001-2004 Guest Lecturer to BA Visual Art students SASA, UNISA
2002-3 Artist in Residence (18 months), Sculpture Department, SASA, UNISA
2000 Artist in Residence (3 months), Australia Council Studio, Milan, Italy
1999 Studio practitioner, Artspace Studio, The Gunnery, NSW
1997-1999 Website Research & Production Assistant and Teaching Assistant (Digital Imaging) to Richard Stanford, COFA
1996 Artist in Residence (6 months) COFA, UNSW
1995-6 Board Member, Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia (CACSA)
1994-1996 Studio practitioner, EAF artists’ studios
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023 All the years/lost & found (as if snow, melting) FELTspace, SA
2020-2021 A line, a curve, a river, a song, Sauerbier House (as part of 3-month Studio Residency), SA
2019 Small moments: the city wakes, the city sleeps, The Mill, SA
2010 Still for the Hollow (Life Amongst the Asphalt), odradek, AEAF
2003 Under Warm Wood, Artspace, Adelaide Festival Centre, SA
2001 Weft, AEAF, SA
1999 Counting Under the Wait of Ink, CACSA
1998 Lodge, The Performance Space (Downing Centre Window Space) NSW
1998 Algebraic (drawn still), Herringbone Gallery, NSW
1998 Queue, 151 Regent St Gallery, NSW
1994 trans s, Union Gallery, SA
1994 Lug s/Pen d, [RE] Gallery, SA
Selected Group Exhibitions/Projects
2024 Neoterica, exhibition of 20 mid-career South Australian artists and 20 writers, as part of the Adelaide Festival, Adelaide Railway Station (North-Eastern Concourse), SA, initiated and curated by Ray Harris
2023 Exhibition of work by resident artists, Studio Kura, Itoshima, Japan
2023 Unravelling Encounters (with Nicole Clift, Lucia Dohrmann and Meng Zhang), Light Square Gallery, SA, curated by Suzanne Close
2022 Reading Between (with Elyas Alavi, Jingwei Bu, Ida Sophia and Inneke Taal), City Library, SA, SALA Festival, curated by Suzanne Close
2021 Finalist Tatiara Art Prize, Walkway Gallery, Bordertown, SA
2020- 2021 Finalist Hahndorf Academy Heysen Prize for Landscape, SA
2019 Finalist Hahndorf Academy Adelaide Hills Landscape Arts Prize, SA
2019 HOLD (with Louise Haselton, Johnnie Dady and Rick Martin) Southwest Contemporary, SA, curated by Linda Marie Walker with exhibiting artists
2011 Everyday the possible, SASA Gallery, South Australian Living Artists (SALA) Festival
2004 Interior, SASA Gallery, curated by Sera Waters and Mark Siebert
2003 Exhibition of newly acquired work, Art Gallery of South Australia, SALA Festival
2003 Finalist Prospect Portrait Prize, Prospect Gallery, SA
2002 Fever, 12 minute reading/video projection (video made in collaboration with Toni Greenwood) as part of Moving Image, SALA Festival, Mercury Cinema, SA
2002 Installation Stills, Australian Centre for Photography, Vic, curated by Niki Vouis
2000 Emporio, Viafarini Gallery, Milan (Italy), curated by Guido Molinari
2000 Installation Stills, CACSA, Adelaide, curated by Niki Vouis
2000 Snowbird, Scarlet & Ambrosia, 15 minute reading/digital image projection as part of Moving Image, SALA Festival, Mercury Cinema, SA
1999 Ground Up, Artspace, NSW, curated by Adam Boyd
1999 Wunderkinder, Top Floor, SA, curated by Michael Newall
1999 Lux: Notes for an Electronic Writing, CACSA, curated by Teri Hoskin
1999 Glovebox, in car glove boxes, South Gallery, NSW, curated by Chris Fortescue & Simon Barney
1997 Dissonance, COFA, NSW, curated by Laura Jordan
1996 Out of Adelaide, EAF, SA, curated by Richard Grayson
1995 Short Sharp Shock, EAF, SA, curated by Michael Grimm & Dean Farrow
1995 To whisper-each-of-us-in ecstasy, Artzone Gallery, SA, curated by Jove Winter
Selected Grants + Awards
2022-23 City of Adelaide Arts & Cultural Grant (All the years/lost & found (as if snow, melting))
2022-23 Awarded 11-month George Street Studio Residency, funded by the Adelaide Fringe
2011 Project Grant, Arts SA, to develop new work (Everyday the possible)
2001 Project Grant (Leadership), Arts SA, to develop new work (Under Warm Wood)
2000 Awarded two-week residency, Athens School of Art studio, Delphi Annex, Greece
1999 Australia Council Visual Art/Craft Fund (Development Grant) for Milan Studio Residency (Italy) Sept-Dec 2000
1999 Pat Corrigan Artist Grant, managed by NAVA with financial assistance from the Australia Council
1996 Project Grant, Arts SA, 6-month Artist-in-Residence COFA, NSW
1995-1996 SAYAB Studio Grant for the EAF artist studios
1992 Awarded participation (through open competition SA School of Art) in the exhibition Contain 1991-2002, COFA, UNSW
Curatorial Projects
1996 Curator of polar.Madlove exhibition of 5 local and interstate artists, North Adelaide School of Art Gallery, funded by Arts SA
1994 Assistant curator to Teri Hoskin of lacuna a visual art exhibition/writing project of 12 women and co-designer of and writer for, the accompanying catalogue, Prospect Gallery, SA, funded by Australia Council Visual Art/Craft Fund.
Collections
Art Gallery of South Australia
Private collections, Adelaide, SA
Anita Lever & Katy Batha, College of Fine Art, UNSW acquired from exhibition Contain 1991-2002
Selected Bibliography
2024 Exhibition review: Neoterica, Adelaide Festival (artshub.com.au)
2024 Neoterica - Artlink
2024 Providing a platform for mid-career artists - CityMag (indaily.com.au)
2023 Art Wrap: Five Exhibitions To See in Adelaide This Month (broadsheet.com.au)
2023 S. Close Unravelling Encounters, exhibition catalogue
2023 M. Newall ‘Six Propositions on Sonja Porcaro’s All the years/lost & found (as if snow, melting)’ catalogue essay
2022 S. Close ‘Reading Between’ (Reading Between), exhibition catalogue
2020 V. Perin, Preview (A line, a curve, a river, a song) Art Guide Australia, Jan/Feb 2021, pg50
2020 A. Sliuzas A line, a curve, a river, a song, exhibition catalogue
2020 K. Bolton ‘Rear View Mirror’ (HOLD) The Form Guide (on-line at Southwest Contemporary), June june 2020 - Rear view mirror | By Ken Bolton (southwestcontemporary.com.au) (scroll to ‘Hold That Tiger!”)
2019 J. Neylon (HOLD) The Adelaide Review (on-line edition) November https://www.adelaidereview.com.au/arts/visual-arts/2019/11/08/adelaide-exhibition-guide-what-to-see-in-november/
2019 L M. Walker ‘HOLD (On There)’ (HOLD), exhibition catalogue
2019 L M. Walker ‘The Air Between’, (Small moments: the city wakes, the city sleeps) exhibition catalogue
2012 L. Harms, ‘Everyday the possible’ (Everyday the possible) Artlink, Vol32, No1 , p88
2011 C. Kenneally ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ & M. Zournazi, ‘Small Moments are Beautiful-hope, reverie and the everyday’, (Everyday the possible) exhibition catalogue
2004 S. Radock, ‘Filling an extraordinary space’ (Interior), The Adelaide Review, No253 Sept, p21
2003 I. Vanni ‘Impermanent Narratives’ (Under Warm Wood) exhibition catalogue
2003 K. Simmons, (Under Warm Wood) Broadsheet Vol 32 No3 Sept-Nov p,32
2003 S. Radock, 'A fragile recording' (Under Warm Wood) The Adelaide Review No 237, June p14
2003 Interview with Hermione Gilchrist, (Under Warm Wood) Radio Adelaide 5UV, University of Adelaide
2003 Blaze- Visual Art and Writing from the Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia 1990-2002, published by CACSA Australia inc. (ed) A. Cruickshank, p63 (images of artists work from Counting Under the Wait of Ink 1999) CACSA
2001 S. Minney (Weft) Eyeline No46 Spring 2001 p52
2001 S. Radok ‘Entitled’ (Weft) The Adelaide Review #211 April p32
2000 G Molinari Emporio (Emporio) exhibition catalogue
2000 A. Main & N. Vouis (Installation Stills) catalogue essay
1999 T. Hoskin ‘Objectiles- pending’ (Counting Under the Wait of Ink) catalogue essay
1999 D. Everett ‘Suspensions (gatherings)’ (Counting Under the Wait of Ink) Broadsheet, Vol 28#3 Spring p19
1999 J. Neylon ‘Mixed metaphors’ (Counting Under the Wait of Ink) The Adelaide review #189 June p33
1999 M. Stephens 'Sonja Porcaro: Drag Textures' Broadsheet Vol 28 #1Autumn 1999
1998 A G. Frost, Review of Herringbone gallery/artists (including image of artists work from Algebraic (drawn still)) Australian Art Collector Issue 5 July-Sept p26-28.
1996 K. Bolton’ Visual art commentary’ (Short Sharp Shock) Otis Rush #11 p192
1995 J. Steffensen ‘Flows and Intensities’ (Short Sharp Shock) Broadsheet Vol 24 #3 Spring p17
1995 S. Radock ‘The private is political’ (To whisper- each of us in ecstasy) The Adelaide Review #137 April p30
1995 J. Steffensen ‘Adelaide (public & private)’ (Short Sharp Shock) Realtime No9, p2
1994 M. Stephens ‘The fractured territory of Art (trans s) Broadsheet Vol 23 #2 Winter p30
1994 D. O’Halloran ‘A humorous way of understanding space’ (trans s) The Advertiser 23 March
With Contributions by Artist
2019 Podcast with Adele Sliuzas (Small moments: the city wakes, the city sleeps) The Mill, https://soundcloud.com/user-303370204/the-mill-in-conversation-sonja-porcaro
2000 ‘Mist’, in Ensemble Logic p19, (ed & published) T. Hoskin, SA published with assistance from the New Media Arts Fund of the Australia Council.
1999 ‘...A line to its plane (Awaiting (at) the Arrival)’ Broadhseet Vol 28 Summer p10-11
1999 ‘Ambrosia’ writing/art piece 4th issue frame on-line journal at trace, (ed) C. Sheffield
1999 ‘Mist’ in Lux: Notes for an Electronic Writing (ed) T. Hoskin, published CACSA, also on-line Electronic Writing Research Ensemble (EWRE) website
1998 ‘Incognito’ review (C. Farmer, J. Hardman and C. Fletcher) The Performance Space 1997-1998 Year Book p47/48
1998 ‘Plumb (with grace)’ writing/art piece in Ensemble Logic + Choragraphy at EWRE URL: http://va.com.au/ensemble, curator T. Hoskin, funded by the New Media Arts Fund of the Australia Council
1997 ‘dry point.that too’ artist’s page (digital image/text), Broadhseet Vol 26#1 Autumn p16
1994 ‘Algebraic’ (writing piece) and Cherry Picker (image) p25-27, lacuna catalogue (ed & published) T. Hoskin SA, with assistance from the Visual Arts/Craft Fund of the Australia Council
Current Professional Memberships
NAVA Premium Membership
Associate Member ACE Open, Adelaide, SA
Accredited Member Guildhouse- Backing Creative Professionals, Adelaide, SA