sonja john | sɑːn-jə dʒɒn

Thank you to everyone who came out to the opening of Floral Larceny on June 7th! This is the last weekend to see my installation at @wavehill . The exhibition will conclude on Sunday, July 13th with a special cyanotype workshop & sorrel tasting hosted my yours, truly 🌺 Throughout the process of making this installation, I kept asking myself, what could a world look like if the impetus to migrate was an act of celebration, rather than a response to force or absence? What are the connective tissues of the vast geographies encompassing my family’s migration stories? I’ve always wanted to create a home for myself that could shift to contain a multitude of lineages. As a child of immigrants born in the heart of a ravenous empire, the search for home happens in stolen pieces: family recipes improvised far away from the gardens we remember, stories told and retold until the memories become fractal leaf cuttings in strange soil. Floral Larceny has been a way to digest all of this, a homecoming, a reconciliation of the strange and familiar. I have so much gratitude to the people who raised me with these stories, the family members who have lent their time and skills to make this installation a reality. Thanks to my dad @devongeorgephotography for letting me raid your archives of photos. Thank you to the stellar Wave Hill curatorial team @gabrield3 @rachelgugelberger & @a_free_tea for holding space for me. It’s been an honor to exhibit along side such brilliant artists @alonglastname @sara.jimenez.art @weihui_lu #wavehill #florallarceny #artistatwerk

Floral Larceny Opening reception: This afternoon! Saturday, June 7, 4-6PM Also on view: Folding Field by @sara.jimenez.art Outdoor sculpture, You’re Soaking in It! by SuRan Song & William M. Weis III Trees, we breathe group show ft. @weihui_lu & many more brilliant artists I admire Curated by @rachelgugelberger @gabrield3 #afritibankwalla Thanks to @lmcc_nyc for providing the space + time necessary for the completion of this project! special thanks to my beloveds (for studio assistance, moral support, & screaming into the void): @ellegedly @laurynredwelch

Thank you so much @janelletannyc & @them for holding space for me. this interview was a gift, and i am so happy to see it out in the wild. it’s a loving reminder that queer & trans people belong outside in the world, and despite the hateful projects set forth by transphobic US legislature, we are here, rooted, thriving, and having our images reflected back at ourselves by a myriad of organisms. read the full interview at the link in my bio! #artistatwerk #queercaribbean

UPDATE: POSTPONED OPENING OF HEART OF MATTER May 23-June 14 OPENING MAY 23 1-5PM TO BE CONFIRMED STAY TUNA Swale House Governors Island @swale_house Open on weekends and by appointment * * Heart of Matter brings together twelve eco-artists whose practices explore the relationship between feeling and the physical world. Together, their works resist the notion that emotion is immaterial, instead asking what it means to grieve, wonder, desire, and belong through the specific weight and materiality of the world. Featuring work by Curious Orange @clairefleurynyc Carlos Rigau @carlosrigau Jessica Bardsley @jessicabardsley_ , Sonja John @sonja__jay Samara Smith @samsmithbklyn Romilly Rinck @rfflowerr Noga Cohen @nogie_ , Lola Lefrancois @lola.m.lefrancois , Patrick Costello @_patrickcostello Laura Grace Chipley @elchipzzzzz and Walker Tufts @jw4lker who were all 2025 @lmcc_nyc artists in residence at the Arts Center at Governors Island. Photo Order in this post: Walker Tufts Sonja John Patrick Costello Noga Cohen Samara Smith and Laura Grace Chipley Lola Lefrancois Carlos Rigau Jessica Bardsley Curious Orange (photo by @jspicer_photos )

32 turns around the sun

happy valentine’s day to my favorite co-conspirator.

happy birthday, my love. there’s a very specific clip of hayley williams singing the bridge to “the only exception” that plays in my head when i think about you. (if you know, you know.) to another year around the sun

Hi friends! If you’ve ever wanted a print, handmade notebook, or cyanotype from me, catch @ellegedly and I tabling TOMORROW, Sunday 9/28 at @artmageddonbk from 12pm-6pm! This summer I’ve been cooking up a frenzy of prints in every shade of blue, along with drawings keyed in my usual tropical tones. Eloise and I will be parked at 253 Stratford Road in Flatbush, BK. Come and say hi! Got an idea for a commission in mind? Do you have gorgeous artwork that needs digital reproduction or photographs that would love to take their final (physical) forms? Hit me up! I’ve been printing all my own giclee prints on a large format printer. Images in order: 1. Raft Man, 2025. Cyanotype on arches. 8.5x11 inches 2. Crinum augustum (Queen Emma Lily), 2025. Cyanotype on arches. 8.5x11 inches 3. Water lilies (Victoria amazonica), 2025. Cyanotype on arches. 8.5x11 inches 4. Banana peels, 2022. Acrylic and ink on paper. 5x7 inches 5. Old Wray, 2019. Giclee print. 8.5x11 inches 6. Camp (mariconear), 2022. Giclee print. 5x7 inches

Friends! You’re invited to the LMCC Arts Center on Governors Island on Saturday, September 27th from 12-5pm for Open Studios. If you’ve ever wanted to get a behind the scenes look at the artistic process, have never been to Governors Island before, or just want to say hi, come to Open Studios! If you missed my solo exhibition at @wavehill earlier this year, I’ll be displaying some of the installations I produced for that show, along with some recent works in progress. I’ll also be holding a studio sale as a way to close out this year’s residency events (swipe through for a sneak peek + prices). Hope to see you there! Meet the Artists: Destinie Adélakun | stinieadelakun.com / @destinieadelakun Daphne Arthur | / @daphnearthurart Jessica Bardsley | / @jessicabardsley_ Noga Cohen | / @nogie_ Patrick Costello | / @_patrickcostello Jing Dong | @_jingdong Sonja John | / @sonja__jay Lola Lefrançois | / @lola.m.lefrancois Libby Mislan | / @lunaaani Raelle Myrick-Hodges | @raelleen Layla Nk | / @violetmenace Curious Orange / Claire Fleury | / @clairefleurynyc Carlos Rigau | / @carlosrigau Romilly Rinck | @rfflowerr Andreia Santana | / @andreiaapsantana Laura Chipley and Samara Smith | /   Walker Tufts | / @jw4lker   Lu | https://studiolu.art/ / @lu_xdyz Jaleeca Yancy | / @jry_designs

Hi friends! Join me at @lmcc_nyc ’s Arts Center Residency Open Studios & Public Programs Saturday June 28th, 12-5pm! 🌺Open Studios offers a glimpse into the creative process and artistic development of LMCC’s artists-in-residence. 🌺Participants can attend LMCC public programming & engage in conversation with 19 multidisciplinary artists in their studios. Learn about their practices and experience a wide range of artistic work in progress, from textile work, to printmaking, sculpture, social practice, writing & more. 📍[RSVP] link in my bio! Meet the Artists: Destinie Adélakun | stinieadelakun.com / @destinieadelakun Daphne Arthur | / @daphnearthurart Jessica Bardsley | / @jessicabardsley_ Noga Cohen | / @nogie_ Patrick Costello | / @_patrickcostello Jing Dong | @_jingdong Sonja John | / @sonja__jay Lola Lefrançois | / @lola.m.lefrancois Libby Mislan | / @lunaaani Raelle Myrick-Hodges | @raelleen Layla Nk | / @violetmenace Curious Orange / Claire Fleury | / @clairefleurynyc Carlos Rigau | / @carlosrigau Romilly Rinck | @rfflowerr Andreia Santana | / @andreiaapsantana Laura Chipley and Samara Smith | / Walker Tufts | / @jw4lker Lu | https://studiolu.art/ / @lu_xdyz Jaleeca Yancy | / @jry_designs

Making a breadfruit patterned window installation from start to finish. Catch this piece and more at my site specific installation, “Floral Larceny,” part of the Wave Hill Sunroom Project Space. Floral Larceny opens this Saturday, June 7th, from 4-6pm at @wavehill The Wave Hill Sunroom Project Space is organized by Gabriel de Guzman @gabrield3 Director of Arts and Chief Curator; Rachel Raphaela Gugelberger @rachelgugelberger Curator of Visual Arts, and Afriti Bankwalla, Curatorial Administrative Assistant.

Happy to announce that I will be exhibiting in the 2025 Wave Hill Sunroom Project Space from May-July! It’s been a dream of mine ever since I started working there after graduating in 2017, and I’ve met some incredible artists, mentors, curators, and friends, such as @gabriel_willow , @eileenj8 , @heavymetalcurator , & @kamaricarterstudio along the way. I can’t wait to test out all the ideas I collected in the hours sitting behind the gallery desk and roaming the grounds. This migratory bird is circling back. studio photos taken by @official_joshshaw during the @the_macedonia_institute residency. #artistatwerk #qtpocartist