Sonia Betts is a first-generation Filipino American. She excavated her cultural roots and found that her heritage reached beyond San Jose, California where she was born. In researching the Philippine Islands, she discovered a rich heritage consisting of 3000 B.C. cave paintings, an indigenous script dating back to the 13th century, and a mythology which supported agrarian societies with rice deities to protect the crops.
Sonia is a painter and mixed media artist often combining painting, collage, basketry, weaving, and embroidery. She works and resides in Santa Rosa, California. She exhibited in Wilmington, North Carolina, where she previously lived. She won Honorable Mention at the 2022 “Figure It Out” Exhibition of Figure Drawings, Occidental Center for the Arts. One of her paintings in her series titled “Salvador Roldan vs Los Angeles County” was selected and exhibited in San Francisco at The deYoung Open, where 7,700 artists submitted artwork for juried selection.
