An artist lecture by Sonya Blesofsky

My sculptural works look at how we remember places, and how that remembering shapes us. I explore personal places, places of collective memory, and places that are imagined. Sites I have worked with include an historic building burned to the ground by arson, my first New York City apartment, a former Jewish monuments shop, a past era when “life was simpler,” and the United States White House. I am interested in how space is designed, built, and inhabited, and I seek to uncover the overlooked history of places. The installations and sculptures I create are site-responsive: literally made from and in the spaces they inhabit, they are emblematic of the history of that place. Through each artwork, I intend to highlight traces of the past to memorialize what came before, frame the present, and inform the future.

Light refreshments will be served after the talk at the DRAW Gallery at 22 Iwo Jima Lane (at Cedar St) around the corner from Upstate Films.

Cover Image credit: Etienne Frossard"

Colonnade: Doric 1, 2, and 3 by Sonya Blesofsky

Plaster, wood, lath and hardware. 2022-23

Part of the exhibition, Some Noble Parts, this installation consisted of 7 plaster and lath columns making up a colonnade that inhabits the entire gallery space. Each 3-meter column was made in-situ, an interpretation of run-in-place plaster mouldings. This installation references US colonial architecture, and the dark and flawed history of colonialist and revival architecture and ornament in the USA.

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Eco Arts Week workshops are free to attend thanks to the generous support of our sponsors and funders. With limited space, workshops often fill quickly, and we appreciate advance notice of cancellations so we can offer your spot to another participant.

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Eco Arts Week 2026 - Tracing History: Site as Source Material