sunnyleeras@gmail.com
About
Sunny Leerasanthanah (b. Bangkok, Thailand) observes how notions of time, place, identity, loss, and affinity are embodied, especially via slippage, repetition, liminality, and limitations. Past and ongoing works include prompting strangers to roleplay and hold conversation in character; inviting people to express the collective imaginary on various topics through sketching and speech; examining narratives around immigration within the context of U.S. invasive species policy; documenting sand patterns created by foraging crabs; mining and rearranging archival video footage; binding perishable paper; and studying iconography in souvenir fridge magnets.
Sunny works expansively across moving images, photographs, installation, performance, books, and prints. They are a recipient of the Artists Alliance Inc. LES Studio Program (2024), Center for Book Arts Residency (2023), Image Text Workshop Residency (2023), Fire Island Artist Residency (2022), Queens Council on the Arts New Work Grant (2021), Rehearsal Residency (2018), and Ithaca College’s James B. Pendleton Grant (2015). They have exhibited at Smack Mellon (NY), John Michael Kohler Arts Center (WI), SculptureCenter (NY), Lubov (Projects) (NY), Local Project Art Space (NY), and Handwerker Gallery (NY), among other spaces. They have spoken on panels at Candice Madey Gallery (NY), Soho Photo Gallery (NY), and more.
Sunny received an MA from Teachers College at Columbia University, and a BFA from Ithaca College. Alongside their primary artistic practice, they enjoy creating photographic portraits. They currently live in Brooklyn, New York.
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.