Sonja Thomsen

Sonja Thomsen
Born1978 (age 47–48)
U.S.
EducationKenyon College (BA),
San Francisco Art Institute (MFA)
OccupationsVisual artist, educator
Known forInstallation art, photography, video art, sculpture
Websitesonjathomsen.com

Sonja Ruth Thomsen (born 1978)[1] is an American multidisciplinary visual artist and educator. Working across photography, video art, and sculpture, Thomsen creates art installations that investigate light, perception, and space through feminist and scientific frameworks.[2] She is an professor adjunct in the department of photography at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.[3]

Education

Thomsen holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Arts from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, in 2000; and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2004.[4]

Public art projects

Here Mothers Are

Created in 2012 by Thomsen in her first collaboration with Adam Carr, the public art project centered on the Amani neighborhood. It took the form of a temporary installation combining photography, audio, and text drawn from living room interviews with women and families connected to the Dominican Center for Women. Focusing on motherhood and inter-generational ties, the project collected reflections on mothers, grandmothers, and children.[5]

Listening to Mitchell

In 2014, Thomsen, in collaboration with Adam Carr created a multimedia public art installation spanning seven blocks of Historic Mitchell Street on Milwaukee’s south side. Developed during the summer, the project engaged local residents and incorporated audio, photographic, and narrative elements drawn from the surrounding community.[6][7] It was subsequently archived as a digital collection by the Milwaukee Public Library.[8]

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

Group exhibitions

  • 2011: Earth Now: American Photographers and the Environment, New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico[20]
  • 2012: Shift, Parkland College, Champaign, Illinois[21]
  • 2014: Konstellationen, Gallery 5.6, Munich, Germany[22]
  • 2015: Photography Sees the Surface, Higher Pictures, New York[23][24][25]
  • 2015: Femme Papel, RayKo Photo Center, San Francisco, California[26]
  • 2017: New Bauhaus Chicago: Experiment Photography and Film, Bauhaus Archive[27][28]
  • 2017: New Bauhaus Chicago: Experiment Photography, Bauhaus Archive, Berlin, Germany[29]
  • 2018: Mary Nohl and the Walrus Club, John Michael Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin[30]
  • 2020: pool, 2020” (with Thom Bridge), Photography & _____, Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, Illinois[31]
  • 2022: Refracting Histories, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, Illinois[32]
  • 2023: Pause/Connect, Warehouse Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin[33]

Collections

Publications

  • 2020: You Will Find it Where it is, a reader, Poor Farm Press, Wisconsin.[37] Held in the MoMA[38] Library and Yale's Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library[39]
  • 2020: Keeper of the Hearth: Picturing Roland Barthes, Odette England, Schlit Publishing, Amsterdam[40]
  • 2017: New Bauhaus Chicago: Experiment Photography, Hirmer Publishers, ISBN 978-3-7774-2937-3
  • 2009: Lacuna[41]

Awards and fellowships

  • 2025–2026: Josef Breitenbach Research Fellowship, Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona[42][43]
  • 2025: BMC Active Archive Artist Residency[44]
  • 2023: Ruth Arts Mary L. Nohl Alumni Award[45]
  • 2024: Visual Studies Workshop Project Space Residency, Rochester, New York[46]
  • 2018: Cow House Studios Residency, Wexford County, Ireland[47]
  • 2015: Artist in Residence Latitude, Chicago, Illinois[48]
  • 2011: Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowship for Established Artists, Greater Milwaukee Foundation, Greater Milwaukee Foundation[49][50]
  • 2008: Hermitage Artist Fellow, Hermitage Artist Retreat[51]
  • 2005: Mary L. Nohl Suitcase Export Fund[52]

References

  1. 1 2 "Sonja Thomsen". The Art Institute of Chicago. 1978. Retrieved April 18, 2026.
  2. ↑ Cardoza, Kerry (May 6, 2022). "Light and Space: The Magic of Sonja Thomsen's Experiential Art". Newcity Art. Retrieved April 19, 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Glowing Wavelengths In Between". www.spenational.org. Retrieved April 19, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Charlotta Hauksdóttir and Sonja Thomsen Echo". Reykjavík Museum of Photography. Retrieved April 19, 2026.
  5. ↑ "'here, mothers are' opens in Amani neighborhood". www.jsonline.com. Retrieved April 22, 2026.
  6. ↑ "About Project". mpl.org. Retrieved April 22, 2026.
  7. ↑ Milwaukee, Urban. "Listening to Mitchell, an interactive public art project of image and sound by Sonja Thomsen and Adam Carr, coming to Milwaukee's Historic Mitchell Street". Urban Milwaukee. Retrieved April 22, 2026.
  8. ↑ "MPL Digital Collections · MPL". www.mpl.org. Retrieved April 22, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Charlotta Hauksdóttir & Sonja Thomse Echo". borgarsogusafn. Retrieved April 21, 2026.
  10. ↑ "Sonja Thomsen: Glowing Wavelengths In Between | Exhibitions | DePaul Art Museum | DePaul University, Chicago". resources.depaul.edu. Retrieved April 17, 2026.
  11. ↑ "Sonja Thomsen: in the space of elsewhere". Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Retrieved April 17, 2026.
  12. ↑ Magazine, Artdose (February 18, 2021). "The Suburban Presents Conversations with Artist Sonja Thomsen". A Midwest Art Magazine. Retrieved April 17, 2026.
  13. ↑ "by her movement". 062 Gallery. Retrieved April 17, 2026.
  14. ↑ Cardoza, Kerry (May 6, 2022). "Light and Space: The Magic of Sonja Thomsen's Experiential Art | Newcity Art Light and Space: The Magic of Sonja Thomsen's Experiential Art". Retrieved April 22, 2026.
  15. ↑ "Fonderia 20.9". fonderia209. June 18, 2022. Retrieved April 17, 2026.
  16. ↑ "Thomsen draws inspiration from Milwaukee's Hazel Larsen Archer". OnMilwaukee. May 22, 2025. Retrieved April 19, 2026.
  17. ↑ "and then down became up: New Works by Sonja Thomsen Opening Reception". www.lyndensculpturegarden.org. January 30, 2025. Retrieved April 17, 2026.
  18. ↑ Seeger, Dan. "Proofs, Tangents, and Echoes: Works by Sonja Thomsen". KVSC 88.1 FM. Archived from the original on March 4, 2026. Retrieved April 17, 2026.
  19. ↑ "Proofs, Tangents, and Echoes: Works by Sonja Thomsen at Kiehle Visual Arts Center, Minnesota". Fast Forward. Retrieved April 17, 2026.
  20. ↑ "Earth Now: American Landscape Photographers and the Environment at the New Mexico Museum of Art". www.spenational.org. Retrieved April 21, 2026.
  21. ↑ "Shift: Contemporary Photography Exhibition". www.parkland.edu. Retrieved April 19, 2026.
  22. ↑ "CONSTELLATIONS". lfi-online.de.
  23. ↑ "Photography Sees the Surface – Higher Pictures". Retrieved April 21, 2026.
  24. ↑ "Patron Gallery | Photography Sees the Surface @Higher Pictures". patrongallery.com. Retrieved April 22, 2026.
  25. ↑ "The Surface of Things". PhotoPedagogy. Retrieved April 22, 2026.
  26. ↑ Walgren, By Judy (September 23, 2015). "'Femme Papel' at Rayko Photo Center". CT Insider. Retrieved April 19, 2026.
  27. ↑ ""New Bauhaus Chicago Experiment Photography and Film"". Das Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung. Retrieved April 21, 2026.
  28. ↑ Fithalm, Dirk (November 17, 2017). "5 Chicagoer Künstler persönlich in Berlin. Bauhausarchiv eröffnete Ausstellung "New Bauhaus Chicago"". Kulturexpresso.de (in German). Retrieved April 21, 2026.
  29. ↑ "Exhibitions". RAQUEL LADENSACK VOAKES. Retrieved April 19, 2026.
  30. ↑ "MARY NOHL AND THE WALRUS CLUB - News - The Green Gallery". www.thegreengallery.biz. Retrieved April 19, 2026.
  31. ↑ ""pool, 2020" by Sonja Thomsen & Thom Bridge". Catherine Edelman Gallery. July 22, 2020. Retrieved April 19, 2026.
  32. ↑ "Refracting Histories – MoCP". www.mocp.org. Retrieved April 19, 2026.
  33. ↑ "PauseConnect Events". Warehouse Art Museum. November 10, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2026.
  34. ↑ "Collection". Milwaukee Art Museum. Retrieved April 21, 2026.
  35. ↑ "Sonja Thomsen". Museum of Contemporary Photography (MOCP). Retrieved April 21, 2026.
  36. ↑ Hansen, Kevin (January 16, 2024). "CoPA Presents | Sonja Thomsen, Choreographing Light". CoPA Milwaukee. Retrieved April 21, 2026.
  37. ↑ "Printed Matter: Sonja Thomsen — You Will Find It Where It Is: A Reader * Tique | publication on contemporary art". tique.art. Retrieved April 19, 2026.
  38. ↑ "You Will Find It Where It Is: A Reader". library.moma.org. Retrieved April 22, 2026.
  39. ↑ "You will find it where it is : a reader". search.library.yale.edu. Retrieved April 22, 2026.
  40. ↑ guestwriter (December 17, 2021). "The Great Read: Mourning Becomes Elect[ronic]". S Y N A P S I S. Retrieved April 21, 2026.
  41. ↑ "Lacuna | WorldCat.org". search.worldcat.org. Retrieved April 22, 2026.
  42. ↑ "May 2025: Faculty and Staff Accomplishments". School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Retrieved April 17, 2026.
  43. ↑ "Current and Past CCP Fellows | Center for Creative Photography". Retrieved April 21, 2026.
  44. ↑ Intern (April 30, 2024). "BMC Active Archive Artist Residency". Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center. Retrieved April 21, 2026.
  45. ↑ Journal, MKE Community (March 17, 2025). "March Events at the Lynden Sculpture Garden". Milwaukee Community Journal. Retrieved April 21, 2026.
  46. ↑ "Project Space Past Residents". Visual Studies Workshop. Retrieved April 21, 2026.
  47. ↑ "Arts Residency in Ireland: How to Flatten a Mountain | HOW TO FLATTEN A MOUNTAIN". howtoflattenamountain.com. Retrieved April 21, 2026.
  48. ↑ "February 2015 Artist in Residency: sonja thomsen". Latitude Chicago. Retrieved April 19, 2026.
  49. ↑ "2011 Greater Milwaukee Foundation's Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowships for Individuals Exhibition: Sonja Thomsen". Shepherd Express. October 6, 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2026.
  50. ↑ Langby, Olivia (November 16, 2011). "Alumni collective receives prestigious Nohl Fellowship". Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. Retrieved April 21, 2026.
  51. ↑ Miyazaki, Kevin J. (January 6, 2016). "Sonja Thomsen: The States Project: Wisconsin". LENSCRATCH. Retrieved April 17, 2026.
  52. ↑ "Mary L. Nohl Suitcase Export Fund". lyndensculpturegarden.org. May 18, 2014.
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