We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Qin Shen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Qin below.

Hi Qin, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

One of my latest works called Nest is my new exploration of mixed media, in which I combined microscopic imaging, papermaking, and UV printing together to deliver the final visual presentation. It’s a mixture of the technological world and the nature.

Nest is an artistic representation of cultural assimilation through the lens of nature’s own symbols. Honeysuckle is a healing and medical plant in Asian cultures, but considered an invasive species in New Land, New York in this case. Such stark contrast reflects the varied interpretations and symbolic meanings that an entity can hold across different cultural contexts.

The work features a delicate interplay between the honeysuckle and the rose——the latter symbolizing Western individualism. A balanced “Nest” is built through the blend of images, representing the coexistence and mutual support between natives and newcomers, in which diverse backgrounds and stories intertwine.

The physical juxtaposition of honeysuckle within the rose imagery metaphorically conveys a state of stability that is both secure and fragile. It tells the precarious balance individuals maintain in adapting to new social roles, highlighting the underlying tension and uncertainties. The equilibrium of existence could easily be disrupted by too much pressure or too little control, akin to a nest that must be carefully maintained.

By magnifying user the microscope, essential structures of objects are revealed, and the similarities between the “natives” and the “newcomers” in this “New Land” are emphasized. Tracing the images with drawings symbolizes how things in the natural and social world are processed and intervened by individual cognitives.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My work always begins from a specific place in my memory. By revisiting those memories through diverse mediums including paintings, sculptural prints, and interactive installations, I examine the imprint of the past on myself. I use multi-media to experimentally explore the freedom of boundaries in nuanced and complex differences and the inter-influences between the artificial and materialistic world and nature. I sometimes consider myself as a sponge, and the surroundings as different kinds of “nutrient solutions” that constantly permeate into my body, and travel through every one of my cells. A body of Chimera of the self and the environment hence is reproduced in this process.

I grew up in a small town in Eastern China, where within a mere 15 years, I witnessed the farmlands of my playtime replaced by steel bridges, and young people leaving home to metropolises in search of bigger platforms. It was a childhood marked by loss and disappearance. In my work, I recreate objects from my past of cultural and personal significance, and construct a new time-space where my memory can once again be touched. Washstand, praising stickers, exam papers, fatty meat dishes, and honeysuckle flowers……These nostalgic objects open up an intimate landscape of reflection and meditation where I can reconnect with my past. I wish to ask this question to myself and the viewers: How am I–are we–shaped by our history and our surroundings?

Repetition and patterning are recurring symbols of unification in my works. I grew up under China’s nationwide exam-oriented education regime and the reform and opening-up policy. I observe the phenomenon of individuals being uninformed consciously or unconsciously under various circumstances of education, gender, and culture. The collision between the uniformity of the commodified world and the irregularity of nature gives rise to a novel outcome. This outcome closely mirrors my transition from a natural and free countryside childhood to a structured and standardized city adolescence. Acrylics and silkscreen prints are used as media to deliver images of commercialized and unitive modern life, such as the artificial marble tiles in Mirror, skin textures on wood, treebark prints on silk, and prints of stooping objects. These images showcase my exploration of juxtaposing and mixing the two opposing powers of natural beings and formulated systems. What is the natural growth pattern of humans? Does natural growth still exist? In what ways does it exist?

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I would like to discuss my resilience by introducing another work of mine that’s related to the topic.

Resilience in Blue, 2023, Acrylic on canvas, 24×36 inches.

Depicting a birthday cake in shades of blue, “Resilience in Blue” presents a symbolic narrative. The cake takes the form of the profile of a CT scan of my hip, a testament to my past struggles with hip dysplasia and the subsequent surgery that became a pivotal moment in my life. The candles, representing the nails on my bones, emit a gentle glow amidst the gloomy blue. This poignant juxtaposition of the celebratory cake and the stark, medical imagery creates a vanitas-like composition.
“Resilience in Blue” serves as a visual representation of the metamorphosis of personal suffering, rooted in feelings of deficiency and self-judgment, into a source of strength, endurance, and ultimately, resilience.
Through this piece, I aim to use my own narrative as a conduit for exploring the profound relationship between individuals and their traumatic experiences, highlighting the remarkable capacity of the human spirit to endure, evolve, and find meaning in the face of adversity.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I am deeply curious about the series of influences and effects that shape our interactions with the environment. Through my exploration of the recent works, I aim to better understand the formation of my current ‘self’ and share my observations with the audience, collectively delving into the intricate dance between humans and their surroundings. The theme of human-environment interaction will continue to be the focal point of my future works.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qinqinzii/?hl=en