Weird Babes Digest Zines Issue 3 - Natalie Tsui, Sonia

WEIRD BABES DIGEST ZINES

ISSUE 3 NATALIE TSUI SONIA

I found Sonia at the Alameda Point Antiques Faire. At the time, I was on Instagram, but I had (and still have) hesitations about sharing my own life in this way so I never posted anything. Sonia mitigated my anxiety around this. It was so easy to document my activities through her. For a while, my inanimate companion rode in the back seat of my car and would go with me everywhere, serving as my photographic surrogate. When I shared a picture of Sonia, the question of whether the photograph is a document or artifice was inverted and I loved that.

A few years ago, my car was broken into while Sonia was in it. Thankfully, Sonia was not stolen, but the incident made me concerned for her safety. I was already considering tabling the project to focus on other work so I decided to put Sonia on hiatus.

Who knows, she may return.

to see more: @natalietsunami - for sonia’s instagram @natalieetsunami - for natalie’s instagram Natalie is a media artist living and working in Oakland, CA. to contact Weird Babes: caroline.partamian@gmail.com www.carolinepartamian.com Caroline Partamian is a curator, visual artist, and musician living and working in Brooklyn, NY.