“Fir Mignon” (2023), wood, epoxy clay, oil paint, 8.75 x 8.75 x 3 inches. All images courtesy of Joyce Lin, shared with permission
Uncanny Objects by Joyce Lin Blur Distinctions Between Reality and the Fantastical
January 21, 2025
ArtDesign
Kate Mothes
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Whether enclosed in clear acrylic or seemingly sliced from a single tree, Joyce Lin’s sculptures examine themes of interconnectedness and the Anthropocene, which describes our planet’s most recent epoch and the way humans significantly impact its ecosystems and climate.
“I am both disturbed and captivated by the paradoxes of industrialized society,” Lin says in a statement, “where modes of production and disposal are often obscured to the public, yet people have more technology than ever to make their imagined worlds a reality.”
“Wood Chair in Fir” (2024), oil paint, epoxy clay, plywood, MDF, and wood, 16.5 x 16.25 x 34.75 inches
Lin’s uncanny pieces meld form and function, taking the recognizable shapes of furniture and food and transforming them into playful meditations on mass production and consumption. She often uses organic materials like wood, augmenting the surfaces with synthetic mediums like epoxy, resin, and oil paint to preserve their appearance in perpetuity. Some works, like the Wooden Chair series, are entirely composed of engineered materials.
“I love to dissect and understand things, and my works often feature objects—usually a chair—sliced open to expose an inner structure; to express an inner truth, so to speak,” Lin tells Colossal. She manipulates the structures extensively, blurring the reality of what she describes as the “insides” and the “outsides,” so the composition takes on a fantastical quality.
“I don’t think they’re so convincing when you really zoom in, so it’s interesting to see people assume they’re somehow grown or AI-generated, even though they take an incredible amount of manual labor and time to create,” Linn adds. “I often think about distortions in our perception of reality, (which is) probably why people keep sending me those is-it-cake videos.”
The artist is currently working toward a solo exhibition later this year at R & Company, and you can explore more on her website and Instagram.
“Exploded Chair” (2019), maple and acrylic, 16 x 16 x 35 inches
“Woodnanas” (2024) wood, steel, polyester resin, and epoxy clay
“Wood Chair in Ash” (2024), oil paint, epoxy clay, plywood, MDF, and wood. Beetles: epoxy, wire, 16.5 x 16.25 x 34.75 inches
Detail of “Wood Chair in Ash”
“Root Chair” (2023), found driftwood and walnut stain, 29 x 30 x 34 inches
“Wood Stool”
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