SONYA PLETES - BIOGRAPHY

Sonya Pletes is an award winning Photographic Artist, Designer and Creative Director, based in Melbourne, Australia, working within Fine Art Photography, Publishing, Interior Architecture, Design & Furniture Design Internationally.

As an Artist, her poetic, ethereal, other worldly imagery is continually inspired and informed by elements of her background, her love of Opera and Fashion Design, of fabric, fantasy and a quest for beauty.  

As a Designer, Sonya creates for and collaborates with International Design, Fashion and Publishing clients, conceptually developing imagery and Art Direction. Sonya creates for her own Signature collections and Exhibitions and is Creative Director of award winning Interior, Architecture and Design Studio, Henry Francis Design.

Sonya Pletes is currently co-designing a limited edition, collectable Art, Furniture and Interior accessories collection with Designer Henry Francis.  Their early pieces have been celebrated with selection within in the Interior Design Magazine Best of Year Awards, in New York 2018.

“A day dream, a fantasy, with faith becomes a reality. This is the innate magic that drives and excites me, that inspires me.  This alchemy is my essence. I want to explore what it is to feel, not think design. To embark on journeys not yet dreamed of and to inspire, delight & captivate.”

Sonya collaborated with Marcel Wanders and Dutch design powerhouse Moooi Amsterdam, developing imagery for the initial Moooi Carpets Collection, launched at Milan Design Week in 2015.  Working with new textile manufacturing technology, Sonya’s signature design ‘Seduction’ was exhibited with work from Maison Christian Lacroix, Neri & Hu, Studio Job, Front, Ross Lovegrove, Bertjan Pot and Edward van Vilet. Moooi co-founder Casper Vissers described the work as “like a Rembrandt”

After graduating with a Fine Art Degree in Fashion Design, Sonya chose to explore new ways of expression, studying Photography, whilst working for the Australian Opera and Ballet. Sonya was awarded Australian Student Photographer of the Year and immediately began working in Publishing.

"I enjoy creating photographic images that are not necessarily immediately recognisable as photographs.  I may use photography as my medium, yet I like to work in unorthodox ways, drawing upon my background in Fashion and Theatre to challenge and manipulate the normal perceptions and expectations of photography"

Sonya Pletes has a unique painterly and experimental visual style, honed over the last 20 years that has made her a favorite of International publishing houses from Sydney, London and Paris to Hamburg, Milan, and Stockholm, with award winning book covers for many distinguished authors and over 300 titles to her credit.

Notably, Sonya both Art Directed and created the cover imagery for the German language edition of the International best selling book series of 'Twilight' by Stephenie Meyer. She worked intuitively, without a brief to create the best selling series that has sold over 10 million copies.

“I love to work with the inexplicable magic that only lives and presents itself when you intuitively follow your heart and honor your inner voice”