Sofya Dudnik

"I could tell I'm a Coney Islander now because I really love this neighborhood," says Sofya Dudnik, an artist who emigrated from Moscow as a student in 2010. "I think it's one of the rare gems in the city and maybe in the whole United States. It's like a historical landmark for me." After studying art at FIT, she created a motif called "Sofi Girl," which the artist says is "a mini-me" and appears in many of her paintings, embroideries, jewelry, and other artwork.  In her oral history interview, Dudnik talks about her childhood diaries, what inspires her to create art, and Coney Island.