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"We live in a small town called La Carlota (about 2hours from Bacolod City ) Negros Occidental where people live simple lives in a very rural setting. But this sleepy town jumps alive every last week of January to celebrate its annual fiesta. The whole place becomes a joyful playground where every one participates. This excitement is what I try to capture in the facial expressions and body languages of my sculptures." says this 30 year old self-taught artist who won the grand prize in the Metrobank Art and Design Excellence award of 2006. "I was so happy to win this award because it is so prestigious and very much sought after by my fellow artists. It also added a great degree of confidence to me as a sculptor, erasing a lot of my previous doubts as to the quality and concept of my creations."

Kelly Sonio meticulously forms his figures by hand using terracotta (or clay) taking as long as three to four days to finish one and then sets them to dry for a month before firing them in a kiln. Afterwards, he uses acrylic to paint the details of each figure, working to enhance the appearance and highlight certain subtleties he wishes to emphasize. It's no easy task considering all the planning and conceptualization that each piece involved before it even went through the laborious process of production. Add to that the discarding of some works which turned out to be classified as "unworthy" by Sonio. It's a good thing he has over 7 years of practice in his art because by now his mastery of it is evident in the resulting sculptures. The emotions, attitude and moods of his figures are well narrated and clearly defined albeit purposely exaggerated.