Instagram story viewer> @sonja__jay> Tagged

sonja john | sɑːn-jə dʒɒn

@sonja__jay

3.2K

followers

6565

following

artist | educator | curator of small animal bones 💀 | the j sounds like a y

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Tonight’s First Look of Intermittent Islands and Balikbayan was amazing. We are so grateful for those who attended and look forward to our community coming to see the exhibitions.

@yanira_collado @marielleplaisir @yanira_collado @sonja__jay @belkis_ayon @elizabethamonti @tulipped

Image credits: Anna Carolan

236

5

On Saturday October 17th you can celebrate filipino culture with J Bala @instant.lewdles and Jonald Reyes @jonaldjude at their free event Bangarang at @studio3stage 3 in Brooklyn. Pop up starts at 6 with their show starting at 7.

If you’re closer to Queens you can show up to Purple Dough @purpledoughs in Woodside to craft and celebrate filipino artists alongside by @k.i.c.h._ You can RSVP in the link in their bio.

On Sunday you can begin viewing Balikbayan, an installation created at Katonah Museum of Art @katonahmuseum by artist Sonja John @sonja__jay. This installation will be on view until January 24th.

Last but not least, join us back at Woodside for the Little Manilla Parade and Block Party @littlemanilawoodside

#fahm #filipino #thingstodo #nyc #queens

3

2

We are thrilled to announce Intermittent Islands: Four Caribbean Women Artists and Sonja John: Balikbayan, opening October 18.

Join us this Sunday at 12:30 PM to see the exhibitions and enjoy a special conversation between Intermittent Islands artists Yanira Collado (@yanira_collado), Marielle Plaisir (@marielleplaisir), and Lisa C Soto (@sotostudio_), moderated by KMA Associate Curator Elizabeth Monti (@elizabethamonti). Space is limited, reserve your spot now at the link in bio!

123

6

🍂 WHAT’S GOING ON AT GOVERNORS ISLAND?

This fall, Longwood @ Governors Island brings together exhibitions, artist-led workshops, and opportunities to explore art, history, memory, and place.

✨ Through September 13
Explore The Birds Are Looking, a solo exhibition by Nelson Alvarez.

🎨 September 19 | 1–5 PM
Join us for the opening of the 2026 Residency Artists Exhibition, featuring work by Ron Baker, Maya Ciarrocchi, Marisol Díaz-Gordon, Sonja John, and Mieyoshi Ragernoir.

🧵 September 19 | 12–2:30 PM
Cartographies in Thread with Maya Ciarrocchi invites participants to translate a meaningful place into color, pattern, and texture. Using a small canvas, paint, and simple needlepoint stitches, participants will explore memory, geography, and personal history through textile. Limited to 12 participants.

🖨️ October 17 | 12:30–4:30 PM
Puerto Rican Printmaking History with Marisol Díaz-Gordon combines a conversation on the history of fine art printmaking in Puerto Rico with a hands-on printmaking workshop. Participants will explore woodcut, linoleum, and Speedy Carve techniques while creating and taking home their own prints. Limited to 15 participants.

📍 Longwood @ Governors Island
Come for the art, stay for the island—and make space for creativity while you’re here.

Save this post and plan your fall visit. 🌿

27

0

Home after 11 months ~ 💘

61

13

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

97

3

More photos from our Queer Caribbean Arts Storytelling Show at @leslielohmanmuseum on July 23, 2026.

Thank you to the whole team at Leslie Lohman for hosting us a for our third year, to our magnificent storytellers, our superstar emcee @castratanyc and to the beautiful, supportive audience. It was truly a magical night of connection and community!

41

2

Thank you to everyone that attended last month’s program Queer Caribbean Narratives in Art: A Storytelling Show, co-presented with @thegenerationsproject.

On the evening of Thursday, July 23, singing drag chanteuse @castratanyc hosted a night for queer artists to share stories about their practices and Caribbean heritage.

Surrounded by the vivid paintings of Rocío García in the current exhibition The Object of Power is Power, storytellers included @sonja__jay, @edvinthompson, @soy_sayoa, @bri_bossy, and @nelsonforthewin.

The evening marked the third year of our partnership with @thegenerationsproject, bringing together intergenerational storytelling with thematically related artworks on view.

🔗 Learn more about upcoming programs and current exhibitions at the link in our bio! - Photos by @filipwolak Castrata singing in front of one of Rocío García’s vivid figurative paintings

81

5

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!

48

3

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

127

6

KICK OFF PRIDE WITH US THIS SATURDAY May 30! see you soon! #crafts #workshop #thingstodo #queer #nyc

53

15

It’s her birthday. ❤️

36

0