Meekyoung Shin, Translation - Vase Series (2020). Soap, pigment, varnish, fragrance. 53 x 27 x 27 cm. © Meekyoung Shin. Courtesy Lee-Bauwens Gallery.
With her solo show In the Shadow of Time at Lee-Bauwens Gallery, Meekyoung Shin is one of two artists being shown by the gallery for ASIA NOW, which ran from 21 October to 7 November 2020.
Having received an MFA from Slade School of Art, Shin splits her time living and working between Seoul and London. Her works have been exhibited in both group and solo shows internationally.
As an artist from Korea, training in European sculpture in the U.K., Translation - Vase Series is part of her main body of work focusing on the theme of cultural hybridisation. Her detailed chinoiserie vases, a style synonymous with the antiques created for American and European export, probes viewers to question how cultural displacement affects interpretation and appreciation.
This slippage is elucidated further as we realise that the artefact is made out of soap, adding connotations of impermanence and washing or cleanliness.
