Fay Shin

Artist statement

As a visual person and an avid traveller, I try to look at things with a traveller's state of mind- likely unbiased and present. I am keen to catch details of my surroundings, especially when I walk around 'in-between spaces' which you don't mean to see in urban landscape- all sorts of side walks and back streets. I look for the traces and surfaces which can open up another level of understanding to the world in social, cultural and anthropological ways. By bringing this intimate perspective into my work, I contemplate the boundary between private and public, authentic and fake, beautiful and ugly.

Making a painting is claiming things I've seen and also like a physical reenactment. I get clues of how to construct painting from real life surfaces. I often juxtapose the illusion of painting surfaces with real materials which seem almost like destructive gestures. Through the dynamic dialogue between them, I propose a complex and awkward visual experience that viewers can engage with their own narratives.