Water-World by Sonja De Sterke
September 2010 to January 2011
About the artist
Sonja de Sterke was born in The Netherlands and migrated to Australia in 1991 after travelling and a career in Advertising. She holds Bachelor and Masters Degrees in Visual Arts (Photography) from Griffith University and has worked as a full-time photographer for QUT for over thirteen years.
In 2002 and 2007, she photographed the Dalai Lama in Australia and in 2000 she was the official photographer for Team Australia at the Sydney Paralympics Games. In 2009 she was awarded the Spirit of Woodford Prize and was runner-up in the Illustration category for the Epson AIPP Queensland Photography Awards. She was awarded a grant for permanent display of her work in the new East Wing of the Wesley Hospital (Brisbane) and has won numerous photography awards. Sonja's work has been published and purchased nationally and internationally.
About the work
The artist was born in Holland and expresses a strong affinity with water from a young age. She says, "The curvature of the water's edge in Water-World reflects the Earth's curved horizon as seen from space, a view of the planet dominated by water. The colours reflect the ability of water to adapt to most environments and dissolve almost anything; it can be considered as a universal solvent.
Surface tension, a common property of liquids, has enabled air bubbles to form, adding a sense of childlike playfulness. As artists, inventors and scientists, we need this quality in ourselves to make new discoveries and to think beyond.
Water is the only common substance found naturally in all three states of matter as solid, fluid and gas. Some even believe that water has a memory and can retain information, as is used in Homeopathic Medicine."
Image: Sonja de Sterke Water-World 2010/11
