Sonia Sokolova

Exploring a sense of belonging is central to Sonia’s professional, artistic and life journeys. She is an artist of many mediums. Whether she is running her interior design business, or creating meaningful moments, her work explores relationship within a built environment. She redefines sustainability to encompass wellbeing and community.

Sonia’s solo art installations explore our ideas of home, the edge of comfort, as well the unconscious world of dreams.

SubSessions

Interior Design

Bliss

Commercial Remodel

Vine

Residential Remodel

Manzanita

Residential New Construction

Construction Documentation

Multi Media

Graphic Design

Event Production Installation Art

This restaurant is the hearth to downtown San Luis Obispo, as well as to the community that pulses through its vegan veins. The little mindful eating joint sits along the creek and serves ayurvedic cuisine with a side of public discussions.

The design seeks to uphold the intention of the restaurant. The new market area mirrors the thoughtful sourcing within the kitchen, the nooks in the dining room hold space for meaningful dialogue.

ROLES

Concept and Direction

Interior Design

3D Modeling

Budgeting

FF&E

Project Management

Finish Work

This residence sits atop a view of the Central Coast’s many vineyards. The kitchen accentuates the client’s love for cooking and entertaining, while also featuring a bold, yet approachable countertop - sustainably made of post consumer recycled paper. The neutral tones blend interior and exterior environments, while tactile elements add depth.

This client shared how he initially did not know what he wanted for his full home remodel - until seeing the interior design selections which transformed stories into physical space.

ROLES

Interior Design

3D Modeling

Budgeting

FF&E

Project Management

Manzanita and old growth oaks adorn the slope within which a new home is being built. The tones and material selection pays homage to this local symbol of new beginnings.

As a designer, holding a family through the process of building their own home can be intimate, at times vulnerable. Sonia comes into each client relationship with a desire to get to know her clientseach mention of messy gardening boots or a love for baking does not go unnoticed as she crafts a design that reflects each client’s unique way of living.

ROLE

Interior Design

3D Modeling

Budgeting

FF&E

TEXTURE

Texture is a cultural hub, with programs that nurture a sense of place and belonging for underrepresented community members. Texture is in part a hair salon grounded in the historical and cultural significance of Black beauty salons and barbershops.

This project is currently under construction. It is funded in part by the city of San Luis Obispo and supported by the city’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion department.

Role

Logo Design

Interior Design

Construction Documentation

Permitting

Budgeting

FF&E

Project Management

Each drop of Butter, Cream, and Shug is captured in the trilogy and use of repetition for this handcrafted skincare brand.

The logo playfully holds the wide breadth of product offerings - from hydrating body milks to edible looking whipped face creams.

Versatility of the color selection and simple shapes allow the brand to carry through for web and packaging applications.

Role

Rebrand

Logo Design

Packaging Design

Website Development

Event production is the perfect incubator to experiment with space and experience. Sonia explores these concepts through her work as Creative Director of SubSessions, a San Luis Obispo based event production company she has helped grow over the last six years. Alongside four other executives, she builds a platform for artists, sharing and gathering.

ROLES

Creative Director

Executive Board

Storytelling Concept

Logistics

Stage Design Build

Art Installations

Contributor Coordination

Venue Lighting

Signage

Born from dusty fairy tales on the top shelf, these cocoons hold you in a warm embrace. The enclosed, intimate moments absorb and play with sound. This is Snug as a Bug in a Hug

Environmental sustainability is at the heart of this project’s material selection. The structural beams are made of repurposed trampoline parts with woven fabric tubing stuffed with straw, a material that will be returned back to the land within the artist’s local community after use.

The loom of life and dreams weaves us together across cultures. The use of weaving in this art installation can elicit a sense of familiarity and refuge.

ROLES Concept and Fabrication

Pull up a chair. There's enough space for everyone.

This time you can play with your food.

There’s no etiquette when we're all strange.

This piece dissolves the space between art and viewer, empowering people to become active participants in the present moment.

The tactile, bright, squishy installation reimagines material and our ideas of comfort through sewn sculpture.

ROLES Concept Fabrication

PHOTOGRAPHY BY HANA SHIOZAKI

STEFAN RADEV

ARTBYGOLDIE STORIES BY SAY