This week's MFA Fiber and Material Studies lecture will be presented by Soo Shin. She holds a previous MFA and BFA in print making and painting from Ewha Woman's University in Seoul, Korea. In 2009 she recieved a visual arts award from the Chicago Union League Civic and Arts Foundation. Her work has been shown in Seoul, Korea and in Chicago at the International Museum of Surgical Science and Tojo Gallery.
At first glance Soo Shin's sculptures seem like strange artifacts of a natural disaster. They are constructed using stuffed animals, blankets, and abandoned objects like architectural remnants, flooring planks, and umbrellas. The materials she chooses play a unsettling balancing act with each other. Their precarious and purposely unrefined construction speak to human imperfection. While it may appear that the larger industrial pieces frame and support the softer materials it could also be said that they support one another. This hard/soft construction is crucial to Shin's work which she describes as "Emotional DIY."
Shin sees the soft objects as items of comfort which are often sourced from childhood. She writes "[The] soft material in my work invites and lets audiences approach my work closer physically and feel being cared for like a child." In contrast the abandoned objects address the emotions we as adults often don't pay attention too and tend to discard. Her work strives to mend the gaps created by cerebral drama, which in a sense makes her sculptures mechanisms of affection.
Soo Shin's lecture is Friday, March 25th at 12:10 in Sharp 903 at 37 S. Wabash St., Chicago, IL. If you miss her lecture be sure to check out her website for information on her past work and a complete CV.
Next week's lecturer will be Erin Chlaghmo (Monday 3/29)
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