Sunny Leerasanthanah

PROJECTS:
This is as far as I can take you
Contain Yourself
Naturalization
Offerings
Sticky Note Sketches
Wuthichai (Exit Interview)
Mom’s Magnets
Homes Against Tides
Towards Tenderness
Carry Me Home
Handwriting Superstition Workshop
We Are Here Book Commission
Chinatown Futures
  
PHOTO PORTRAITS
PHOTOGRAPHY
PHOTO JOURNAL
VIDEO & FILM
WRITING

ABOUT / CONTACT
PRESS
CV

︎ News ︎

︎︎︎2025 | Solo exhibition at Anne Reid ‘72 Gallery 

︎︎︎2024-2025 | Studio Residency at Artists
Alliance Inc. LES Studio Program ︎

︎︎︎✺ 2024 | Feature & Interview with Claire Kim for The Here and There Co. ︎

︎︎︎✺ 2024 | Feature & Interview with TAGTAGTAG Magazine ︎

︎︎︎2024 | “This is as far as I can take you” solo show at Smack Mellon (NY) Feb 10 - April 14, 2024

︎︎︎2023 | “Naturalization” solo exhibition at John Michael Kohler Arts Center (WI) July 2023-Jan 2024

︎︎︎2023 | Lesbian Narratives of Cherry Grove: Presentation & Panel Discussion, April 23, 2023 at Candice Madey Gallery 6:30pm (Free) 

︎︎︎2023 | Residency at Image Text Workshop ︎

︎︎︎2023 | Residency at Center for Book Arts 

︎︎︎2022 Nov | Guest panelist for “Let’s Talk About Photo Books” discussion at Soho Photo Gallery. Nov 12, 4:30-6pm ︎

︎︎︎2022 July | Residency at Fire Island Artist Residency

©2024 SUNNY LEERASANTHANAH
Artist CV

sunnyleeras.com | sunnyleeras@gmail.com

b. Bangkok, Thailand. Living and working in Brooklyn, New York, USA.

Education
2019 MA in Arts Administration, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY

2016 BFA in Film, Photography & Visual Arts, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY


Solo and Two-Person Exhibitions

2024 “This is as far as I can take you”, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY

2023 “Naturalization”, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI

2019 “Carry Me Home”, Myers Gallery at Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY

2017 “Towards Tenderness” a two-person exhibition with David Lurvey, Lubov (Projects), New York, NY


Group Exhibitions & Screenings
2021 “In Practice: You may go, but this will bring you back”, SculptureCenter, Long Island City, NY

2020 “Travel”, The Glasgow Gallery of Photography, Glasgow, Scotland

2020  Untitled Screening at Ayi Ayi x Uklon Event, (Pop-up space), Brooklyn, NY

2019 “On Reverse Commuting”, (Pop-up gallery), Brooklyn, NY

2018 “The Feeling Is Mutual”, Local Project Gallery, Long Island City, NY

2016 “Tell Us Where: Senior Exhibition Selected Work”, Handwerker Gallery, Ithaca, NY

2016 “Cinema Thesis Screening & Exhibition”, Roy H. Park School at Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY

2015 “Luncheon Special: Photography Exhibition”, (Pop-up gallery), Ithaca, NY

2015 “Substrate: Experimental Film Screening”, (Pop-up gallery), Ithaca, NY


Awards and Residencies
2024 Artists Alliance Inc. LES Studio Program Residency, New York, NY

2023 Image Text Workshop, Artist-in-Residence, Ithaca, NY

2023 Center for Book Arts, Book Artist-in-Residence, New York, NY

2022 Fire Island Artist Residency, Artist-in-Residence, Fire Island, NY

2021 Queens Council on the Arts New Work Grant, Queens, NY

2019 Teachers College grant to attend the National Arts Education Association Conference, Boston, MA

2018 Rehearsal Residency, Artist-in-Residence, Amagansett, NY

2017 Columbia University Teachers College Scholarship, New York, NY

2016 Outstanding Senior Award in Film, Photography, and Visual Arts, Ithaca College, NY

2015 James B. Pendleton Production Grant for Photography, Ithaca College, NY


Publications (Print & Digital)
2024 Homes Against Tides V2 Risograph Edition (Work in progress)

2023 Offerings (Work in progress)

2021 “Magnetic” in digital publication the ee! Issue One. Artist Joshua Escobar writes a poem in response to the photobook Homes Against Tides (Featured Work)

2021 Chinatown Futures 2: Rituals/ Remembrance zine co-created with Jennifer Jin and Isabel Ling

2021 We Are Here: Visionaries of Color Transforming the Art World by Jasmin

Hernandez, published by Abrams Books. (Principal Photographer of 45+ portraits, studio, and artwork photography published in book)

2020 Mom’s Magnets, Self-published risograph print book

2020 Chinatown Futures zine co-created with Jennifer Jin and Isabel Ling

2020 i carrot about u: community cookbook by Fathom Library (Featured Work)

2018 Homes Against Tides, Self-published photobook

2017 From Maine, With Love, Self-published photobook

2015 I Wish I Didn’t Have to Go Home, Self-published photobook

2015 Zero Hour Zine Issue 2: Identity, Irony, Machismo (Featured Work)

2013 Dandelion Violent, Self-published digital zine, Creator and Editor


Book Fairs/ Collection
2022 Publication Mom’s Magnets included in the collection of Asia Art Archive in America (Brooklyn, NY)

2021 Publication Mom’s Magnets included in the collection of Fathom Library (Providence, RI)

2020 Publication Mom’s Magnets featured at Bangkok Art Book Fair (Bangkok, Thailand)

2019 Publication Homes Against Tides included in the collection of Fathom Library (Providence, RI)


Presentations/ Talks
2024 “Contain Yourself” Artist Performance Lecture at Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY

2024 “TL;DR” Discussion with Dr. Jill H. Casid at John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI

2023 “DREDGE/ CHOP/ CATCH/ GROW” Presentation with Daniel Pravit Fethke at Urban Soils Institute at Governors Island, NY

2023 “Lesbian Narratives of Cherry Grove” by FIAR’s Fire Island Histories Project at Candice Madey Gallery, New York, NY. Presented with Ksenia D. Soboleva and AK Burns.

2022 “Let’s Talk About Photo Books” Panel at Soho Photo Gallery, New York, NY. Presented with Erica Reade, Cindy Trinh, Emily Sanchez, Nancy Scherl, and Melissa Breyer.

2022 Fire Island Artist Residency: Artist Talk, Cherry Grove Community House, Fire Island, NY

2022 Queer | Art’s Digital Book & Print Fair Show ‘N’ Tell (Virtual)

2021 Asian American Arts Alliance’s Town Hall: Presentation about Chinatown Futures (Virtual)


Select Press/ Bibliography

2024 “Sunny Leerasanthanah” Interview and Feature, TAGTAGTAG

2024 “Sunny Leerasanthanah” Interview Feature, The Here And There Collective

2023 “New Work at John Michael Kohler Arts Center Explores Xenophobia Through Lens of Invasive

Species”, Shepherd Express, October 11, 2023

2022 “Artist Awards Roundup”, ARTNews, July 14, 2022

2021 “Your Concise New York Art Guide for April 2021”, Hyperallergic, April 6, 2021

2021 “Jasmin Hernandez’s Debut Book Celebrates Diversity in the Art World”, Sotheby’s, March 29, 2021

2021 “In Practice: You may go but this will bring you back”, TheGuide.Art, March 26, 2021

2021 “See Inside a Beautiful New Coffee-Table Book Celebrating 50 Leading Artists and Curators of

Color”, Artnet, Feb 26, 2021

2021 “We Are Advocating for Us: A New Book Centers BIPOC Artists and Educators”, Hyperallergic, Feb 1, 2021

2021 “We Are Here - A New Book Celebrates a Diverse Art World”, Widewalls, Jan 28, 2021

2021 “Game-Changing Artists and Curators of Color Showcased in New Book”, ARTNews, Feb 2, 2021

2018 Emergency Index: An Annual Document of Performance Practice Vol. 8, May 2021


Writing
2019 “An Artist's Mission to Preserve New York City's History of Lesbian Nightlife”: An Interview with
Artist Gwen Shockey. (Hyperallergic, August 27, 2019)