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sonja john | sɑːn-jə dʒɒn(@sonja__jay)'s profile avatar HD Profile

sonja john | sɑːn-jə dʒɒn

@sonja__jay

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artist | educator | curator of small animal bones 💀 | the j sounds like a y
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Thank you to everyone who came out to the opening of Floral Larceny on June 7th! This is the last weekend to see my installation at @wavehill. The exhibition will conclude on Sunday, July 13th with a special cyanotype workshop & sorrel tasting hosted my yours, truly 🌺 Throughout the process of making this installation, I kept asking myself, what could a world look like if the impetus to migrate was an act of celebration, rather than a response to force or absence? What are the connective tissues of the vast geographies encompassing my family’s migration stories? I’ve always wanted to create a home for myself that could shift to contain a multitude of lineages. As a child of immigrants born in the heart of a ravenous empire, the search for home happens in stolen pieces: family recipes improvised far away from the gardens we remember, stories told and retold until the memories become fractal leaf cuttings in strange soil. Floral Larceny has been a way to digest all of this, a homecoming, a reconciliation of the strange and familiar. I have so much gratitude to the people who raised me with these stories, the family members who have lent their time and skills to make this installation a reality. Thanks to my dad @devongeorgephotography for letting me raid your archives of photos. Thank you to the stellar Wave Hill curatorial team @gabrield3 @rachelgugelberger & @a_free_tea for holding space for me. It’s been an honor to exhibit along side such brilliant artists @alonglastname @sara.jimenez.art @weihui_lu #wavehill #florallarceny #artistatwerk taken in Wave Hill by @sonja__jay
28
a year ago
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Floral Larceny Opening reception: This afternoon! Saturday, June 7, 4-6PM Also on view: Folding Field by @sara.jimenez.art Outdoor sculpture, You’re Soaking in It! by SuRan Song & William M. Weis III Trees, we breathe group show ft. @weihui_lu & many more brilliant artists I admire Curated by @rachelgugelberger @gabrield3 #afritibankwalla Thanks to @lmcc_nyc for providing the space + time necessary for the completion of this project! special thanks to my beloveds (for studio assistance, moral support, & screaming into the void): @ellegedly @laurynredwelch taken in Wave Hill by @sonja__jay
28
a year ago
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Thank you so much @janelletannyc & @them for holding space for me. this interview was a gift, and i am so happy to see it out in the wild. it’s a loving reminder that queer & trans people belong outside in the world, and despite the hateful projects set forth by transphobic US legislature, we are here, rooted, thriving, and having our images reflected back at ourselves by a myriad of organisms. read the full interview at the link in my bio! #artistatwerk #queercaribbean taken in Bronx, NY by @sonja__jay
28
4 years ago
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MEET THE LONGWOOD @ GOVERNORS ISLAND RESIDENTS! Meet Sonja John—a queer, first-generation, Bronx-based artist, educator, and curator whose interdisciplinary practice explores cultural, botanical, and material hybridity through textiles, printmaking, and site-responsive installations. Drawing inspiration from plant forms and vernacular architecture across equatorial regions, Sonja’s work reflects on diasporic longing and the nostalgic fictions of the Caribbean shaped by history, memory, and family archives. Through layered materials and botanical forms, their work invites viewers to consider how identity, place, and personal history are carried across generations. Join Sonja at Longwood @ Governors Island for an artist-led workshop. SUN CHASERS: A CYANOTYPE WORKSHOP explores the magic of cyanotype photography and printmaking—and create with the power of the sun! Participants will use sunlight and light-sensitive paper to create striking blue-and-white images using everyday objects, natural materials, drawings, and more. Bring a few small, flat objects from home—flowers, plant cuttings, lace, jewelry, handmade stencils, or anything that can cast a shadow—and transform them into a unique sun-powered print. No photography or printmaking experience is required. Just come ready to experiment, create, and chase the sun! 📍 Longwood @ Governors Island 📅 Saturday, August 15, 2026 ⏰ 2:00–4:00 PM #BronxCouncilOnTheArts #LongwoodAtGovernorsIsland #SonjaJohn #CyanotypePhotography BronxArtists @sonja__jay by @sonja__jay
3
2 months ago
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Tomorrow night! Please join us for an evening of storytelling and community, featuring an incredible lineup of Queer Caribbean artists and creatives! There’s still a few spots left, and admission is FREE! Reserve your seat at the link in our bio before they’re gone. See you there tomorrow! by @sonja__jay
3
3 months ago
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Meet Sonja John… and come see her works in person THIS SATURDAY MAY 30! (TOMORROW!) Sonja is our highlight artist for the evening and her works will be on view from 4-10PM “Sonja John is a queer, first generation, Bronx-based artist, educator, and curator. John’s interdisciplinary practice explores cultural, botanical, and material hybridity through paintings, textiles, printmaking, and site-responsive installations that reference plant forms and vernacular architecture across equatorial zones. These motifs investigate diasporic longing and nostalgic fictions of the Caribbean built from history, memory, and family archives. She received her Bachelors of Fine Arts from Rhode Island School of Design in 2017. Her contributions to museum education have been featured at the RISD Museum and Hyperallergic. She has been published in n+1 magazine, I Like Your Work Podcast, Seeing Color Podcast with Zhiwan Cheung and Them. John was awarded the ChaNorth Artist Residency Young Artist Fellowship Award in 2022, received the General Fellowship residency award for The Studios at MASS MoCA in 2023, and recently completed the Lower Manhattan Cultural Center’s Arts Center Residency in 2025. Her visual art has been exhibited at the Rio Galleries of Sugar Hill Children’s Museum in Harlem, EFA Project Space, and Wave Hill, with a forthcoming solo exhibition at the Katonah Museum of Art. An avid collector of animal bones, she is probably best friends with the skeletons in your closet.” #bronx #artist #nyc #thingstodo #queer taken in Secret Pour by @sonja__jay
6
4 months ago
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32 turns around the sun by @sonja__jay
26
7 months ago
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happy valentine’s day to my favorite co-conspirator. by @sonja__jay
8
8 months ago
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happy birthday, my love. there’s a very specific clip of hayley williams singing the bridge to “the only exception” that plays in my head when i think about you. (if you know, you know.) to another year around the sun by @sonja__jay
6
a year ago
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Hi friends! If you’ve ever wanted a print, handmade notebook, or cyanotype from me, catch @ellegedly and I tabling TOMORROW, Sunday 9/28 at @artmageddonbk from 12pm-6pm! This summer I’ve been cooking up a frenzy of prints in every shade of blue, along with drawings keyed in my usual tropical tones. Eloise and I will be parked at 253 Stratford Road in Flatbush, BK. Come and say hi! Got an idea for a commission in mind? Do you have gorgeous artwork that needs digital reproduction or photographs that would love to take their final (physical) forms? Hit me up! I’ve been printing all my own giclee prints on a large format printer. Images in order: 1. Raft Man, 2025. Cyanotype on arches. 8.5x11 inches 2. Crinum augustum (Queen Emma Lily), 2025. Cyanotype on arches. 8.5x11 inches 3. Water lilies (Victoria amazonica), 2025. Cyanotype on arches. 8.5x11 inches 4. Banana peels, 2022. Acrylic and ink on paper. 5x7 inches 5. Old Wray, 2019. Giclee print. 8.5x11 inches 6. Camp (mariconear), 2022. Giclee print. 5x7 inches taken in Flatbush by @sonja__jay
5
a year ago
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Friends! You’re invited to the LMCC Arts Center on Governors Island on Saturday, September 27th from 12-5pm for Open Studios. If you’ve ever wanted to get a behind the scenes look at the artistic process, have never been to Governors Island before, or just want to say hi, come to Open Studios! If you missed my solo exhibition at @wavehill earlier this year, I’ll be displaying some of the installations I produced for that show, along with some recent works in progress. I’ll also be holding a studio sale as a way to close out this year’s residency events (swipe through for a sneak peek + prices). Hope to see you there! Meet the Artists: Destinie Adélakun | www.destinieadelakun.com / @destinieadelakun Daphne Arthur | www.daphnearthur.com / @daphnearthurart Jessica Bardsley | www.jessicabardsley.com / @jessicabardsley_ Noga Cohen | https://nogacohen.com / @nogie_ Patrick Costello | www.patrickjcostello.net / @_patrickcostello Jing Dong | @_jingdong Sonja John | https://sonjajohn.com / @sonja__jay Lola Lefrançois | www.lolalefrancois.com / @lola.m.lefrancois Libby Mislan | www.libbymislan.com / @lunaaani Raelle Myrick-Hodges | @raelleen Layla Nk | https://laylank.com / @violetmenace Curious Orange / Claire Fleury | https://Clairefleury.com / @clairefleurynyc Carlos Rigau | https://carlosrigau.com / @carlosrigau Romilly Rinck | @rfflowerr Andreia Santana | https://andreiasantana.net / @andreiaapsantana Laura Chipley and Samara Smith | https://lauragracechipley.com / https://samarasmith.com  Walker Tufts | https://walkertufts.com / @jw4lker  Lu | https://studiolu.art/ / @lu_xdyz Jaleeca Yancy | https://Jrydesigns.net / @jry_designs taken in Lmcc's Art Center At Governor's Island Building 110 by @sonja__jay
7
a year ago
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Hi friends! Join me at @lmcc_nyc’s Arts Center Residency Open Studios & Public Programs Saturday June 28th, 12-5pm! 🌺Open Studios offers a glimpse into the creative process and artistic development of LMCC’s artists-in-residence. 🌺Participants can attend LMCC public programming & engage in conversation with 19 multidisciplinary artists in their studios. Learn about their practices and experience a wide range of artistic work in progress, from textile work, to printmaking, sculpture, social practice, writing & more. 📍[RSVP] link in my bio! Meet the Artists: Destinie Adélakun | www.destinieadelakun.com / @destinieadelakun Daphne Arthur | www.daphnearthur.com / @daphnearthurart Jessica Bardsley | www.jessicabardsley.com / @jessicabardsley_ Noga Cohen | https://nogacohen.com / @nogie_ Patrick Costello | www.patrickjcostello.net / @_patrickcostello Jing Dong | @_jingdong Sonja John | https://sonjajohn.com / @sonja__jay Lola Lefrançois | www.lolalefrancois.com / @lola.m.lefrancois Libby Mislan | www.libbymislan.com / @lunaaani Raelle Myrick-Hodges | @raelleen Layla Nk | https://laylank.com / @violetmenace Curious Orange / Claire Fleury | https://Clairefleury.com / @clairefleurynyc Carlos Rigau | https://carlosrigau.com / @carlosrigau Romilly Rinck | @rfflowerr Andreia Santana | https://andreiasantana.net / @andreiaapsantana Laura Chipley and Samara Smith | https://lauragracechipley.com / https://samarasmith.com Walker Tufts | https://walkertufts.com / @jw4lker Lu | https://studiolu.art/ / @lu_xdyz Jaleeca Yancy | https://Jrydesigns.net / @jry_designs taken in Lmcc's Art Center At Governor's Island Building 110 by @sonja__jay
2
a year ago
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