Jean Shin: Spring Collection - Opening Reception

Jean Shin: Spring Collection

Opening Reception

Thursday, June 16

Through community engagement and an intricate and labor intensive process, Jean Shin transforms everyday objects into large scale installations. Often times collecting materials through personal transactions, these objects are in part representations of their original owners, serving as portraits for individuals and communities.

During her residency at Materials for the Arts, Shin had access to the ever changing inventory of surplus materials donated by individuals as well as industries, corporations, and networks of MFTA donors. In a series of new works made out of leather remnants from the production of luxury accessories, the artist reconstructs the “body” of these hides. These industry remnants hint at the elaborate manufacturing process that transforms raw materials into consumer products. The enigmatic voids that remain promise an object of desire that can never be known. The exhibition explores how the origins of material impact their meaning and how production and display alter our relationship to the goods we consume.