Kevin Chin (Australia) Residency: February, 2014
It is easy to lose yourself in the colourful, lush world of Kevin Chin’s oil paintings. Solitary figures wander, lost in a paradise both foreign yet familiar. Born in Kuala Lumpur and raised in Melbourne, Chin himself is a wanderer. He investigates what creates a sense of belonging, informed also by his experiences living in London and Tokyo. Starting with the personal, his work traverses cultural, sexual, and global politics.
Chin takes domestic objects and actions, and repositions them in the context of travel and displacement. Their uncanny arrangement asks us to re-examine their cultural significance. While the figures depict some connection to the land, his imagery questions the relevance of ‘home soil’ within the context of global mobility. Kevin Chin’s search for a place to feel at home drives him to assemble these comforting, yet unstable scenes.
Kevin Chin comes to Studio Kura on the heels of his solo exhibition at Art Stage Singapore in 2014. He was awarded the Ian Potter Cultural Trust Grant (Australia) to support his work in Japan in 2014, including artist residencies at Youkobo Art Space (Tokyo) as well as Studio Kura. Chin’s earlier solo exhibitions at Melbourne’s West Space, Linden, Kings, and TCB were documented in the publication Safe Hiding Spot 2010, assisted by a City of Melbourne Arts Projects grant.
Kevin Chin is represented by dianne tanzer gallery + projects, Australia.
Off the Land
Pass by Full
Run Deeper
Tend the Ground
Unseen