Jia-Jen Lin is one of the winners from September of ArtConnect's Open Call: Artists to Watch '21.

My practice explores human experiences and how they inhabit our bodies despite different space and time. I create visual presentations to investigate the human body and its surroundings as a reflection of our psyche. With an interdisciplinary approach, my installations often span several media, including sculpture, photography, video, sound, text, and performance.

By employing my body and mind as an experiential interface, I look into the subjects of cultural identities, struggles, correlated relationships between our physicality and psychology, and the resemblance between art-making and manufacturing in social content. Through reinterpretation and modification of materials and objects, I survey the possibilities of transforming abstract experiences into visual or performative representations.

ArtConnect asked the winning artists to share with us a glimpse into their creative life to get a sense of their personal inspiration and artistic process.

How would you describe your artistic approach?

My project usually starts with a concept that has only keywords with no descriptions. Then, I start to research related information and look for materials and objects that deliver the idea. The working process often involves a lot of back-and-forth thinking, searching, and reviewing before everything can come together to precisely describe the subject I have been investigating.

And how did you get started as an artist?

I had questions about the systems we create for our society, and I never really felt that I fit well into society. At first, making art was an escape from the ordinary life of study and work. Later, I learned that art is an impactful, empowering tool. Becoming an artist is not an overnight decision—it’s a continuous, compelling process that always keeps me thinking, struggling, and learning more.

Where do you look for sources of inspiration?

In general, my inspiration comes from in-person experiences that stimulate my interest in investigating the human condition at large. My sources include everyday encounters, interpersonal relationships, social events, books, news, other artists’ works, and both man-made and natural landscapes. Arte Povera and Ann Hamilton are my longtime inspirations.

What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced as an artist?

Because I live in the expensive city of New York, the storage and preservation of installation pieces have been challenging. Since the materials need to be recreated for each exhibition in order to be site-specific and shown in their best conditions, their costs have become a big part of the funding effort, in addition to the cost of studio rent.

Describe a typical day in the studio/wherever you make your work.

I don’t have a typical schedule or routine for my day-to-day practice. I work on things that require the most attention first. In the morning, you can usually find me in front of my computer, either writing, researching, conceptualizing, or working on images and proposals. My physical activities start in the afternoon—I work on smaller pieces or other types of digital work in my apartment. Alternatively, I go to my studio and work on larger pieces and structural layouts until the evening. After I return home, I briefly write down a to-do list before going to bed.

What are you currently working on and what’s coming up next for you?

I am currently working on my upcoming solo show at Locust Projects in Miami, opening on Earth Day (April 22) in 2022. I will also attend an artist residency at Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin from December 2021 to April 2022. My artist residency and expedition with The Arctic Circle has just been postponed due to COVID-19-related travel restrictions in Europe, but I look forward to sailing with other artists and scientists around Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago, in October 2022.

Is there a medium, a process, or a technique that you haven't used in your work yet but would like to try out?

I will be learning projection mapping and working on editing multichannel videos in my upcoming project.

How does it feel to be selected as an ArtConnect Artist to Watch?

I am grateful for this opportunity to share my projects and connect with a worldwide audience.

See more of Jia-Jen Lin’s work

ArtConnect Profile | Portfolio | Instagram