Meet the Artists: Sonja John, Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya and SuRan Song

Sonja John is a queer, first generation, Bronx-based artist, educator and curator. Her interdisciplinary practice explores cultural, botanical and material hybridity through paintings, textiles, printmaking and site-responsive installations that reference plant forms and vernacular architecture across equatorial zones. These motifs investigate diasporic longing and nostalgic fictions of the Caribbean built from history, memory and family lore. John’s mural work has been commissioned by The Center for Cultural Power for NYC Climate Week 2023 and her work has been featured in n+1 Magazine and Them. She earned a BFA in Painting from Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI. 

Photo: Caroline Porras Monroy

Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya is a Brooklyn-based transdisciplinary artist whose work spans sculpture, painting, public art, fiber and ritual. The daughter of Thai and Indonesian immigrants, her practice focuses on creating liminal spaces that facilitate healing and transformation. Through her work, Phingbodhipakkiya channels loss and disconnection into portals of renewal, amplifying marginalized voices and weaving together cultural identities, colonial legacies and personal histories. Her installations often invite audience participation, turning viewers into collaborators in the creation of living monuments. Projects include Time Owes Us Remembrance at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center, Thailand and Of Soil and Sky at the Brooklyn Museum, NY. Phingbodhipakkiya’s work is held in permanent collections such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. She was a 2023-2025 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, a 2024 NYC Artadia Awardee and was an artist-in-residence with the NYC Commission on Human Rights. Phingbodhipakkiya earned a B.A. in neuroscience from Columbia University, NY and an M.A. in Communication Design from Pratt Institute, New York. 

Photo: Jihe Peng

SuRan Song is a Riverdale, Bronx-based artist of Korean and Greek descent. Her multidisciplinary performance practice explores how justice relates to love, the ancient roots of Greek hospitality, Sanskrit, audience engagement and accessibility, among other themes. Inspired by post-punk songwriters and Early Dada artists, she also leads a performance art rock band that has toured widely. Song’s work has been featured in exhibitions at the Katonah Museum of Art and Queens Museum, both in NY, and the Villa Terrace Arts Museum in Milwaukee, WI. She earned an MFA in Sculpture from Parsons School of Design, NY. 

Photo: Anastasia Song