Statement

Sonia Chaudhary's sumptuous work evokes the powerful presence of holy texts such as the Quran, Bible or Torah. However, rather than divine revelation and religious instruction, her work reveals the searing words and stories of her own life and other Muslim women. The true accounts of her subjects cite instances of abuse that may be tragically common among women from any community or religious group throughout the world, but that take on special significance for Chaudhary. As a Muslim woman, she interrogates religious traditions, expectations, restrictions, and social taboos both as personal exploration and to bring the transgressions upon the bodies and souls of her subjects to light. Chaudhary's latest work explores her own struggles and sicknesses with the body, in relationship to religion and femininity.

Chaudhary is a multidisciplinary artist and works in mediums such as: photography, watercolor, stitching, porcelain, beeswax. The infusion of different mediums allows her to examine cultural expectations of womanly behavior, such as the ambiguous meanings and messages of bodily ornamentation.

She is a recent graduate of the University of Connecticut, with a BFA in Communication Design. After graduation she worked for a number of Connecticut's outstanding firms to further her passion in book design, while she began to showcase her personal work in various art communities / galleries. She has received international recognition for her piece titled, "I Am Sin," and her recent work includes the 2009 book series for the Girl Scouts of America.