Sunny J
Born in Ningbo, China
Sunny J is a multidisciplinary artist, working primarily in painting, textile, performance, installation, and ceramics. She holds a B.A. in Studio Arts from the University of Rochester, along with a four-year full scholarship and the Elizabeth M. Anderson Prize for Excellence in the Arts. In 2017, she received her M.F.A degree in Painting from the National Higher School of Visual Arts - La Cambre (ENSAV) in Brussels, Belgium, while also completing an art research certificate at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB).
Sunny J has since then been active on the artistic scenes of Europe, the United States, and China. In 2015, she was selected for the Old School Residency in Gorna Lipnitsa, Bulgaria, where her participative performance, Wedding of All Times, received national media attention. She has been an artist-in-residence in Shangyuan Art Museum (2016, China), AADK Residency (2017, Spain), Glo'art Center (2018, Belgium), and recently a resident at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai, China.
Sunny J's works focus on the exploration of identities. A nomad artist living on three continents, her visual practice is tightly knitted into her personal experience of cross-cultural crafting, painting, art education, and curating. Seeking at once to establish borders and eliminating them, Sunny J adopts a multifaceted art-making, constantly questioning the value of cultural traditions.
Education
MFA - Painting
ENSAV-La Cambre (Brussels, Belgium)
BA - Studio Arts
University of Rochester (Rochester, NY, United States)
Exchange studies
Académie de la Croix-Nivert (Paris, France)
École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (Nantes, France)
Apprenticeship
Studios of Luca Buvoli, Leslie Dill, Jocelyn Hobbie (New York, USA)
Solo Exhibitions
2018 Reliqaires, La Résidence Municipal Art Center, Dompierre-Sur-Besbre, France
2018 Wunderkammer, Galerie Alpha, Thiers, France
2016 Shell, Shangyuan Art Museum, Beijing, China
2015 Not A Single One, 464 State Street Gallery, Rochester NY, USA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2019 Her, IINNOO Gallery, Bellagio Hotel, Shanghai, China
2017 Finalist exhibition for 2017-18 selection of artist-members of La Casa de Velazquez (Academy of France in Madrid)
Salle Comtesse de Caen, Academy of Fine Arts, Paris, France
Daring Tales, Salle Delvaux, Free University of Brussels (ULB), Brussels, Belgium
Shell, Niko Matcha Salon, Brussels, Belgium
Troposphère, Espace 6B, Saint-Denis, France
2016 Weekend Salon, Koala Space, Tianjin, China
Rose était presque kaki, Avenue Louise 186, Brussels, Belgium
Ritual Art - Time and Space, Old School Group Show, traveling exhibition in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Ruse, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria
2015 Not A Single One, 464 State Street Gallery, Rochester, USA
Impossible Journey, mural work installed in Wilson Commons, University of Rochester, USA
Art Awake, One-day art festival in Rochester City, USA
Rochester Erotic Arts Festival, Radisson Riverside Hotel, Rochester, USA
HeART of Disorder-an exhibition exploring mental disorder, University of Rochester, USA
(en)Gendered: Between Identities and Environments, Art & Music Library, Rochester, USA
2014 Nana – a collaboration of senior Studio Arts majors, ASIS Gallery, Rochester, USA
“Say Something”, GlobeMed Art Gala, Art Museum of Rochester, Rochester, USA
Abundance, Bridge Art Gallery, Office of Mental Health Promotion, Medical Center, Rochester, USA
Annual Members Show, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester, USA
Myth: paintallation from Advanced Painting, ASIS Gallery, Rochester, USA
2013 In Labor: Gendering (Re)Production, Art & Music Library, Rochester, USA
2012 Mapping, Sage Art Center, Rochester, USA
Art Walk, University Avenue, Rochester, USA
Annual Undergraduate Juried Exhibition, Hartnett Gallery, Rochester, USA
HeART of Disorder-an exhibition exploring mental disorders, Hirst Lounge, University of Rochester, Rochester, USA
ArtAwake, Rohrbach Brewing Company, Rochester, USA
Nature 2.0/Introductory Digital Art /Printmaking, Sage Art Center, Rochester, USA
“Failure is Impossible”: Feminism’s Past, Present and Future, Sage Art Center, Rochester, USA
GRANTS AND AWARDS
2017 Grant for artist residency program in Spain, International Fund of Friends of La Cambre
2017 Artichoke Grant, Bureau of International Youth (BIJ Brussels)
2015 Joseph P. O’Hern Award for Travel and Study in Europe, Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society
2015 Elizabeth M. Anderson Prize for Excellence in the Arts, University of Rochester
2015 First Medal Prize, Research in Visual Arts Contest, University of Rochester
2011-15 Global and Renaissance Scholarship, University of Rochester
2013-14 David Porter Diversity Scholarship, IES Abroad
2011 Innovation Grant for research in the arts and humanities, University of Rochester
2011 Iota Book Award, University of Rochester