Click this link to read Sonia Romero’s interview on Voyage LA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sonia Romero.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Sonia. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I come from an interesting artistic family. My maternal grandparents founded the Craft and Folk Art Museum on Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles, the same city where my parents, Nancy and Frank Romero, are both practicing artists. I was raised in Angelino Heights, Echo Park where I was drawn to art at an early age. I began selling my work at my parent’s annual holiday art sale around the age of seven, and in tenth grade I was accepted into the visual arts program at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. From there, I went on to the Rhode Island School of Design where I received my BFA in printmaking. In 2002, I returned to Los Angeles to start my art career. I began showing my work in group shows, and in 2006 had my debut solo show at Avenue 50 Studio, located in Highland Park. One year later, I moved my studio to Avenue 50 Studio where I was in residence for seven years.

Around that time, I won my first public art commission and realized I had a knack for making art in the public realm. It’s a marriage of my own artistic inspiration and the needs and desires of a community. I have had at least one commission a year since then. These days I’m struggling to find time to devote to my painting as I balance raising a family and public art commissions.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I have always been blessed with abundant artistic opportunities but have also struggled a lot with my own thought patterns. Recently, I have been opening up about dealing with perfectionism, comparing my journey to the success of others, and feeling like I’m not good enough –people have been so surprised! Just because I produce work and have had a modest art career does not mean that I don’t have the same fearful thoughts as anyone else. I’m always trying to work with my thoughts and emotions to both gain insight and to move through them. It’s constantly on my mind. Ha.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I have a professional art practice and use my name, Sonia Romero, although in the past I have used the moniker “She Rides the Lion”. I am known for doing both fine art and public art. I have installed permanent public artworks in Little Tokyo, Artesia, East Los Angeles, Lincoln Heights, Canoga Park, the Byzantine Latino Quarter, Macarthur Park and I have upcoming projects in Boyle Heights and El Sereno. My design sense emanates from my printmaking background which influences all my projects no matter what medium I’m working in. Some mediums I work with include tile, laser cut steel, porcelain enamel, painting, silkscreen, paper-cut, ceramic and linocut. My fine artwork reflects my interests which range from spirituality, environmentalism, and multiculturalism in Los Angeles.

As an artist, I’m most proud of winning major public art commissions right after giving birth to my children (without pain medication)! I won a commission in 2015, 2 months after I gave birth to my daughter, and again in 2018 right after I gave birth to my son. That’s some lion mama power. I’m currently still breastfeeding my son as I paint a large-scale mural for the Metro Station in Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights. The best way to stay in touch is to get on my mailing list (via SoniaRomero.net) or follow my Instagram (@soniaamaliaromero). I sell my hand-pulled prints in my online store and my paintings both privately and through galleries/museums.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
When I was a younger artist, I always thought I was in training to become an artist later. If I could do my youth over, I would realize that adolescence is a time to make artwork about being an adolescent, and young adulthood is a time to make artwork about being a young adult. My advice is, don’t wait to start expressing yourself. Do it now.