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Sonni the Mi-ki

@sonnithemiki

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Smooth face #Miki 🐶 in the big city🗽
pup of @joyceyujeanlee

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I hiked the Dolomites this summer with my favorite trail buddy @sonnithemiki—my tiny companion whom nobody should bet against, including Sassolungo’s coffin lift to snow-capped peaks!
🐶⛰️🐾
My favorite highlights from this northern region of Italy: alpine meadows at Col Raiser, rifugio lunch at Cinque Torri with wild blueberry pasta, and surprising trail markers built by Christian devotees.
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These jagged mountains are sculpture on a scale that is humbling… endlessly shifting vistas by light and clouds. I came back with a camera full of reference photos and new ideas for my studio!
📸⛰️🇮🇹

#Dolomites #hikingdog #dogtravel #ArtistLife #artinspiration

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Things I saw at the 2026 Venice Biennale in Italy this summer that made me want to make art: aquatic installations, sculpture about climate change, spiritual activations of church spaces, and even a wild participatory piece about parenting (with my fur babe Sonni)

Now I’m back in my NYC studio testing out new ideas with glass and video inspired by the trip.

Highlights included a surprising run in with artist @huiyeist, catching up with Venetian glass artist @lorenzo_passi_, and visiting the gorgeous studio of Morgan O’Hara. While @sonnithemiki was terrified of the Alilaguna, he was a very good gallery dog. 🐶

🇮🇹📹✨👀

#VeniceBiennale2026 #VideoArt #ContemporaryArt #ArtistLife #GalleryDog

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After celebrating the 10th anniversary of @firewallcafe in Oslo (see my previous post), I traveled with my dear friend @danijelastajnfeld, who welcomed me into her beautiful home country of Serbia. Together we adventured through Belgrade, Novi Sad, and her hometown of Ruski Krstur.
🛩️🇷🇸👯‍♀️
Some of my favorite memories: long meals, a studio visit with an icon-painter nun, cherry picking, wooded monastery hikes, climbing a 275 year old church bell tower, strolling an old fort and conversations in both Serbian and Rusyn.
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I’ll be sharing moments from these travels—from Serbia to Italy—and how each place inspires the ideas I’m bringing into my studio.

#travelogue #wanderlust #joy2026 #artistlife #serbiasummer

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Huge thanks to the talented designer @lucianfrench for creating the playful and thoughtful Interactive Expo booth for FIREWALL Cafe at @osloff.

Inspired by the retro digital landscapes of the Microsoft Windows desktop and Nintendo Super Mario Bros., the installation transforms Internet censorship into an interactive environment that invites visitors to explore the FIREWALL Archive.
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This year’s installation compared search results for three terms—“Taiwan Independence,” “Tiananmen Square Massacre,” and “Uyghur Genocide”—captured in 2016, 2019, and 2026 using both Google and Baidu. Viewing these image results side by side revealed how two very different information ecosystems shape public understanding: one through the censorship of an authoritarian state, the other through the ranking systems and commercial priorities of a dominant technology platform.

As FIREWALL Cafe continues to celebrate its 10th anniversary, we’re reflecting not only on what has changed online, but also on what continues to disappear.
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Try these searches yourself through the FIREWALL Archive—link in bio—and let us know what you discover.

#FIREWALLCafe #InternetCensorship #TaiwanIndependence #RememberTiananmen #freeuyghur

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As we celebrate 250 years of the United States, I’ve been reflecting on how much I value the freedoms I have as an artist and U.S. citizen—especially after spending time with artists whose freedom of expression has come at an extraordinary personal cost.
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At @osloff, I had the privilege of meeting and learning from artists including @sai_redacted, @tenzingrigdol, and the Gao Brothers, whose work engages with censorship, identity, and human rights in Myanmar, Tibet, and China. Their stories are powerful reminders that, in many parts of the world, making art and speaking freely can lead to surveillance, imprisonment, or persecution—not only for artists themselves, for their families as well.
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“Art is not a crime. No one should be punished solely for their creative work or expressing their personal views.” — @gao_brothers, speaking on behalf of Gao Zhen, who has been imprisoned for 679 days because of his art.
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I’m grateful for the courage of artists who continue to create despite immense personal risk. Never take your right to express yourself for granted!
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#America250 #FreedomOfExpression #ArtistLife #HumanRights #oslofreedomforum

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Finally sharing a few moments from celebrating the 10th anniversary of my @firewallcafe new media project at the Oslo Freedom Forum this past June.
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My favorite experience @osloff in 2026 was meeting other creatives and human rights advocates working on issues of censorship and freedom of expression across China, Tibet, and the diaspora. Everyone contributed new perspectives on how information is shaped—and finding ways to make the invisible visible.
🇨🇳
Pictured with me are @ahalegua @chemilhamoooo and talented Tibetan activists, as well as comedian @alisultancomedy participating in a FIREWALL Cafe search session.
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My faithful studio assistant @sonnithemiki came along for the adventure and was the very best boy at our Interactive Expo booth. 🐾 (Swipe to the end for his cameo.)
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#internetcensorship #webart #freedomofexpression #firewallcafe

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I’ve been editing some amazing drone footage of humpback whales from the generous award winning aerial photographer @joannasteidle! So amazing to be able to see an aerial perspective of a humpback whale lunge feeding menhaden fish around Long Island. Swipe to see @Sonnithemiki in the studio… Stay tuned for the debut of this new artwork in January 2026!
🐟🐋📹
#humpbackwhaleart #studiowip #videoart

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What an amazing experience to go whale watching this spring! @cresli_inc and @gothamwhale are amazing organizations that educate and encourage conservation and stewardship of marine life and coastal ecosystems and I was thrilled to get to know their citizen scientists.
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Stay tuned for news about my project opening in the new year featuring their whale footage!
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#studiowip #studioresearch #marineart

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As my group show “The Only Way Out is Through” @readymadegallery opens tonight, I am missing the sublime beaches of Orleans and Provincetown, MA, where I ended my summer with an artist residency at #DNAGallery. It was so fun getting to spend time with our generous host @nicklawrencestudio and the other talented artists @walterbrown390 @beckybrwn @birddogsongs Swipe to see show details, our studio space, and our gourmet home-cooked artist dinners together!
🏖️ 🖼️🦪
#studiowip #studioexperiment #nycartist #dnagallery #readymadegallery #capecodart #capecodgallery #orleansart #provincetownart #artistresidency #artistinresidence #artonthecape #artistdinner

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My summer studio routine and rituals have included opening up Elizabeth Murray’s barn studio in the morning, stenciling plants, drawing marine life and @sonnithemiki joining the adventure!
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It feels so good to discover surprises in the repetitive rhythms of creative process!

#summerstudio #artstudioprocess #wip #workinprogress #glassvideosculpture #kilnformedglass #nycartistlife

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Miss y’all upstate artist and academic friends in Albany, NY and beyond! All smiles despite miles and years apart during these sweet reunions with MICA MFA alumni, a former NJCU student and new art faculty friends around the country.
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Still smiling remembering our live radio feature @mediasanctuary sharing about Elizabeth Murray Artist Residency @collarworks in Troy, NY… so fun!
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Special thanks to Dan Phiffer and Ellie Irons @elslaurel for the generous introduction and grand tour! Good important work happening at the sanctuary, @collardcitygrowers and the NATURElab on journalism, soil and water justice.
💚📻👩🏻‍🌾
#emar #elizabethmurrayartistresidency #collarworks #troyny #sanctuaryforindependentmedia #liveradio #independentmedia #community #upstateny #artistlife

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