sunnyleeras@gmail.com
Bio:
Sunny Leerasanthanah
b. Bangkok, Thailand
Lives in Brooklyn, New York, USA
Sunny Leerasanthanah (she/ they) was born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand, and currently lives and works in New York City. Her visual art practice spans video, photography, multimedia installation, book arts, and performance, ruminating on storytelling, placemaking, identity, family, superstition, and collecting.
Their first solo institutional show, “Naturalization” at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center (WI) ran from July 29, 2023 through January 28, 2024. Upcoming, they are exhibiting a new body of work in their first major New York solo show at Smack Mellon.
Sunny is an upcoming artist-in-residence at Artists Alliance Inc.’s LES Studio Program. They were most recently a recipient of the 2023 Center for Book Arts' Book Artist-in-Residence. They have also been a recipient of the 2023 Image Text Workshop Residency, the 2022 Fire Island Artist Residency, the 2021 Queens Council on the Arts' 2021 New Work Grant, 2018 Rehearsal Residency, and 2015 James B. Pendleton Grant at Ithaca College.
They have exhibited at SculptureCenter (NY), Lubov (Projects) (NY), Local Project Art Space (NY), and Handwerker Gallery (NY), amongst other spaces. Their book Mom’s Magnets (2020) is in the collection of Asia Art Archive in America (NY) and Fathom Library (RI). They have spoken in panel discussions including at Candice Madey Gallery (NY), Soho Photo Gallery (NY), Queer | Art (virtual), and Asian American Arts Alliance (virtual).
In their commission photography work, they have published 40+ portraits of American artists and art world figures in the book We Are Here: Visionaries of Color Transforming the Art World by Jasmin Hernandez (2021). They are an Up Next Member with Diversify Photo.
Sunny received a Master of Arts from Teachers College at Columbia University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Ithaca College. Beyond their visual art practice and photography, they work at The Curve Foundation.
©2024 SUNNY LEERASANTHANAH