About
‘Through my work I hope to show you an enchanted and magical world, with a theatrical and humerous side.’
Sonia McNally is a visionary artist, passionate about working in the wilderness, where immersive experiences open portals to the imagination and the layered narratives that she finds there.
Fascinated by ideas of the sacred, mysticism, earth-based religion, Celtic Christianity, folklore, hagiography and mythology, her work takes her on many exploratory pilgrimages and has many expressions – from painting, printing, poetry, glass, sculpture, to film and interactive performance. Her community and students describe her as a ‘force of nature’ and ‘midwife to the imagination’.
Wow, you’ve had such a terrific year. I think you have really managed to zone in on something interesting, and it feels like you are really channelling something now. We’ve had some great discussions, and I have genuinely looked forward to seeing what you were going to make next.
— Turps Mentor 2026
Sonia’s creative portfolio includes, freelancing as a scenic artist for the film industry, where her work is seen on major cinema and TV titles, and as a modelmaker creating and installing world class interactives for museums and exhibitions. She has won large scale glass commissions in churches, runs drawing courses at Canterbury Cathedral and concurrently taught at Canterbury Christ Church University for over a decade on Fine Art degree programs and an MA ‘Myth Cosmology and the Sacred’.
For 2 decades Sonia run a yearly Dartmoor Artists’ Residency, and has worked with groups of artists from Iona to India showing an ongoing commitment to artists communities, offering a sustainable creative platform for artists to continue feeding their creativity.
Exhibiting frequently and internationally – recently in the Turner Contemporary, and for 2023 New York and Chicago
Sonia is a yacht skipper, has recently restored a classic yacht in Faversham and races dinghies at Whitstable Yacht Club.
Podcasts
CV
Exhibitions & Performances
2023 – Canterbury International Arts Festival (Oct)
2023 – 'Temples of Stone', Parlour Art Gallery, Chicago (solo)
2023 – Genesis, The Beginning of Creativity, Manhattan, New York (May – July)
2022 & 2023 – Whitstable Museum & Gallery, Whitstable, Kent
2022 & 2023 – Fishslab Gallery, Whitstable, Kent
2022 – Performance: as Mermaid 'Euphrosyne and the Harty Spring', Harwich International Sea Shanty Festival, Harwich, Suffolk
2022 – Women Celebrating Surrealism – The Centenary, Islington, London
2022 – Canterbury International Arts Festival
2021 – The Turner Contemporary Open
2021 – Performance: 'The Fortune Teller' and paintings at exhibition 'Super-Natural', Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, London
2021 – Cement Fields, Estuary 2021 (part of Whitstable Biennale) 'The Water Replies', Thames Estuary, Kent
2020 – Performance: Tarot of the Sordid Moon (collaboration with performance artist Helene Williams), online
2019 – Pure Form, Herne Bay, Kent
2018, 2019 – 'Temples of Stone' The Chagford Inn, Dartmoor, Devon
2017 – Pure Form paintings and drawings Burgate, Canterbury, Kent
2016 – Performance: Whitstable Biennale 'The Gateway Between Two Worlds' (collaboration with performance artist Helene Williams) Whitstable, Kent
2015 – Pure Form, Linden Hall Studios Deal, Kent
2015 – 'Trees of Life', Parlour Art Gallery, Chicago (solo)
2015 – Performance: Sacred Saturnian Ritual played a key character role for MA Myth Cosmology and the Sacred, Canterbury, Kent
2014 – Performance: Whitstable Biennale 'Milking the Coast' (for performance artist Helene Williams) Whitstable, Kent
2014 – Canterbury International Arts Festival, 'I Offer You These Feet' (Collaboration sculpture with Liz Jones) Eastbridge Hospital, Canterbury, Kent
2013 – Seacourt, Print exhibition etchings selected, Belfast, N Ireland
2013 – Lessedra World Print Annual etchings selected, Sofia, Bulgaria
2013 – Canterbury International Arts Festival, 'The Story of St. Alphege, Cartoons for the Etched Glass Screen' Eastbridge Hospital, Canterbury, Kent (solo)
2013 – Draft and final cartoons for St Alphege frieze, St Alphege Church, Whitstable, Kent
2013 – Pure Form, Burgate, Canterbury, Kent
2012 – The Thinking Line exhibiting alongside artists; Leon Kossoff, Maggi Hambling, David Nash, Euan Uglow and Michael Craig-Martin Sidney Cooper Gallery, Canterbury, Kent
2012 – Tree Folklore Sayings, Proverbs and Myth, British Tree Conservation Ashford, Kent
2010 – Canterbury International Arts Festival, Canterbury Cathedral, Kent
2010 – Outside the Square, Margate, Kent
2009 – Fast Forward Sidney Cooper Gallery, Canterbury, Kent
2008 – Denise Yapp Contemporary Art Monmouth, Monmouthshire
2007 – 'Out With In', La Galleria, Pall Mall, London
2006 – 'Painting and Drawing', Lauderdale House, London
2005 – 'Painting and Drawing', Lauderdale House, London
Permanent Collections & Films
2019 – Film: 'Old Bill & Sausage Robbers', A documentary celebrating 50 years of Manor of Faversham Freemason's Lodge No. 8248
2013 – 'Temptation of Eve' etching selected for permanent collection of Erotic Art, Lessedra, Sofia, Bulgaria
2011 – 2013 – 'The Story of St. Alphege' 12 metre etched glass screen commemorating the millennium of his martyrdom. St. Alphege Church, Whitstable, Kent
Residencies and Awards
2018 – Associate Fellow Higher Education Academy
2012 – Society for Education and Training QTLS
2009 – Artist in Residence University of Kent
2009 – Chromos Painting Prize awarded at degree show Canterbury Christ Church University
2003 – Shortlisted for Making Buildings Prize Crafts Council, London
Publications & Press
2022 – Euphrosyne & The Harty Spring, Mysterium Press
2022 – Canterbury International Arts Festival, Kent Online
2021 – Meeting Vikings in English Churches, The Churches Conservation Trust
2014 – 'The Story of St Alphege' Catalogue produced by Brenda Tate Lovery
2014 – Art and Christianity Enquiry Magazine
22/7/2013 – Church marks key event in life of a saint. ITV
2012 – Lighting Installation over 6 pages Brides Magazine
2011 – Lighting Installation Kent on Sunday colour supplement
2009 – Painting for Joyce Kilmer poem 'I think I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree' (art works published) Resurgence Magazine
1999 – Published a series of 3 sets for Independent on Sunday Cinema and Magazine Adverts
Research, Conferences & Festivals
2022 – Speaker 'Drawing from the Imagination' Realisation Festival. St Giles House, Wimborne, Dorset
2016 – Selected speaker 'Exploring Video Art in Sacred Spaces'. White Cube, Dark Cube: A one-day symposium exploring the changing dynamics of experimental film and video in the 21st Century. Canterbury Christ Church University, Kent
2014 – 2016 – Speaker 'New ways of drawing on glass' for The Hilary Virgo Trust. Canterbury Christ Church University, Kent
2015 – Speaker 'Art in Sacred Spaces' St Alfege Church, Greenwich, London and St Alphege Church, Whitstable, Kent
2015 – Speaker 'Sacred Geometry in Art' Greenbelt Arts Festival, Kettering, Northampton
2011-2013 – Research required to uncover the 'Story of St. Alphege' for Church of England (worked with The Diocesan Advisory Committee and historian Dr Hilary Powell) for the resulting commissioned 12 metre acid etched glass screen
Current Employment
My teaching specialism is in the facilitation of creativity and the imagination. I take groups of artists on residential art retreats all over the world, lecture in art and the imagination, and lectured on BA and MA art programmes at Canterbury Christ Church University. I design and deliver art projects at festivals and organisations. I freelance as a scenic painter for the film industry and a model maker.
2017 to date – Creative Mentor, Barclays Eagle Labs Innovation Centre, Barclays Bank Jersey, Channel Islands
2013 to 2018 – Lecturer for Art and Imagination Module MA Myth, Cosmology and the Sacred, Canterbury Christ Church University
2011 to date – 'Drawing at Canterbury Cathedral'. Run independently and partnered with Canterbury Christ Church University Education Department
2011 to date – Leading residential creative and developmental retreats for professional artists. Global locations
2011-2014 – BA (Hons) Lecturer for Fine and Applied Art Canterbury Christ Church University
2009 to date – Running independent art courses and private tuition in many educational settings
1998 to date – Production of own exhibited and experimental art works
1998 – 2013 – Freelance set builder, costume maker, props and model making for film, TV, theatre and community art construction projects for National Theatre, Ralph Lauren, M and C Saatchi, TV and Film Industry (including film 'Sexy Beast' and many TV adverts)
Education
2018 – HEA Fellowship
2012 – Professional Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE). Qualified Post Compulsory and Secondary
2009 – Drawn Animation University of the Arts London
2008 – BA (Hons) Fine Art 1st Class Canterbury Christ Church University
1997 – BSc. Agriculture & the Environment, Wye College, Kent