In Conversation: Jean Shin
“I’m not interested in 'waste' as much as showing the transformation and potential the used and discarded have through our reframing, care, and labor.” —Jean Shin
Jean Shin transforms discarded objects into monumental sculptures that invite us to reconsider consumerism and identity. Shin’s 1999 installation Alterations, currently on view as a centerpiece of the group show Fabricated Imaginaries: Crafting Art, was reinstalled this year by the artist for the first time since its creation. In conversation with Dr. Gannit Ankori, Henry and Lois Foster Director and Chief Curator, and Dr. Amy Kahng, Florence Levy Kay Fellow in the Art of Asia’s Diasporas and Asian American Art, the artist will discuss the formal and thematic through lines from Alterations to her most recent artworks.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Jean Shin (b. 1971, Seoul, South Korea) is known for her sprawling and often public sculptures, transforming accumulations of discarded objects into powerful monuments that interrogate our complex relationship between material consumption, collective identity, and community engagement. Her work has been widely exhibited and collected in over 150 major museums and cultural institutions, including solo exhibitions at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington DC, and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, where in 2020 she was the first Korean American woman artist featured in a solo exhibition. Shin has received numerous awards, including the Frederic Church Award for her contributions to American art and culture. Her works have been highlighted in The New York Times and Sculpture Magazine, among others. Her body of work includes several permanent public artworks commissioned by major agencies and municipalities, most recently a landmark commission for the MTA’s Second Ave Subway in NYC. She is a tenured Adjunct Professor at Pratt Institute and holds an honorary doctorate from the New York Academy of Art.
This program is held in conjunction with the exhibition, Fabricated Imaginaries: Crafting Art, August 20, 2025–May 31, 2026