Story & Lesson Highlights with Sunaé Armanye

Sunaé Armanye shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Good morning Sunaé, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: Are you walking a path—or wandering?
I am currently walking a path. This path is one that I chose for myself and one that God has continued to support me through. I feel like once I made the decision that I am done wavering from my passions and personal pursuits, I’ve been growing in the most meaningful ways.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hey hey! I’m Sunaé Armanye. I am a multidisciplinary African-American neo-expressionist artist from New Brunswick, New Jersey. My work spans curation, canvas painting, digital illustration, public art, and design. My creative roots trace back to my childhood, when I participated in “craft parties” hosted by my great-grandmother, learning to transform everyday household items into art. I continued to nurture my talents at the Paul Robeson School of the Arts and flourished through after-school programs and community-based arts initiatives.
Encouraged by my high school art teacher, I sold my first painting to a teacher, solidifying my path as an artist. I went on to study fine arts and marketing at Kean University, earning my Bachelor’s degree in 2019. During college, I launched my brand, Sungod, offering original artwork and customized fashion pieces. My first solo pop-up shop—supported by an internship with Ucyphe—was a sellout success. I also co-curated campus events like “The Exhibit,” a student-led arts and fashion showcase that blended creativity and community.
As a full-time entrepreneur and freelance artist, I am the creator and facilitator of “Craft & Convos,” a community-based art series designed to engage both youth and adults in expressive art-making, up-cycled fashion, and meaningful dialogue about identity, intention, and healing. I am deeply inspired by the wisdom of three generations of women in my family—my “Big 3”—I view my art as a tool for storytelling, self-discovery, and transformation. Through my creative practice, I invite others to explore their inner worlds and connect through shared experiences of growth and expression.

Okay, so here’s a deep one: What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
The parts that have experienced and held trauma. I’ve been at a point in my life where healing is my responsibility, and no other human being can make that decision for me. I’ve sought help, I’ve received help, but to release and detach yourself from a place, person, or thing that no longer serves you is always your decision. I have no space for what hurt me in the past, I choose to swap that space I had for pain out for power.

When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
I recently discovered that all along, my pain was my power. It wasn’t a setback or an unfortunate event. I discovered that it didn’t have to remain this negative, as it had started out to be. In realizing this, I started working on 2 bodies of work. I started painting one of them in April 2025 during a 3-month artist residency, which I’m titling “Those Were The Days,” and the other is a continued series titled “Two Sides To Every Story”.
Within these bodies of work, I am pretty much telling my story through expressive art. “Those Were The Days” are paintings of joyous or pivotal moments I have with my family- the majority from photo memory, but a few I have reference photos of to refer to. My family and I reminisce a lot about how things were before we were torn apart, and we yearn for the joy we had in the past to become the present again. I am creating this series to highlight those memories and find power in recreating them for us.

“Two Sides To Every Story” is a continued series of portraits of blue people that have these exaggerated features. I create them in reference to my human or personal experiences. It’s a way I found that I can consistently tell my story or share an experience through my artistic style. Each piece is created in pairs of 2, because it felt like that was a way for me to complete my storytelling through these works.

Every being in the paintings is painted blue within both “Those Were The Days” and “Two Sides To Every Story”. Blue is symbolic within my artistic practice: a literal take on the phrase “people of color,” and it is a part of my joy that I find in making blue feel good. It’s often used to represent sorrow or sadness; for me, it’s royal, feels loyal and powerful. Within my work, I realized my art could relate to reality without having to replicate it exactly.

Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
Me. Lol, I am my biggest project. Above all, the art making and curating or collaborating- to take care of myself and look out for myself, is my biggest project. It’s fun, it’s ugly, it’s untraditional, it’s private, it’s exhilarating. I find that I have the ultimate key to the door of discovery because it’s within. God willing, I can keep self-discovering because it’s actually really dope to see yourself shed and blossom and come to many realizations all in this same lifetime.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. When do you feel most at peace?
When I am painting, or when I self-isolate. Anything that requires me to move freely without so much control and minimal human contact. Stillness, even, like when you are in a bathtub confined to a space that is built for you to unwind. In these times, I try not to let my mind wander and stay present in that peace.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theartofsungod.com
• Instagram: @sunaearmanye
• Linkedin: Sunaé Long
• Facebook: Sunaé Armanye
• Youtube: artbysungod

Image Credits
Artist Residency Photo: Danté Maurice Laughlin