About (An) Anthology of the Ocean
download a pdf of the exhibition guide here
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(An) Anthology of the Ocean by Soo Shin explores the fluidity of identity, belonging, and connection through a series of works spanning sculpture, sound, and drawing. Rooted in the conceptual and material practices Shin has honed over the past decade, the exhibition engages the ocean as both a literal and metaphoric entity, embodying the tensions and harmonies between distance, displacement, and memory.
Drawing from Édouard Glissant’s concept of Poetic Relation, which describes the interconnectedness of people, places, and cultures through a network of dynamic exchanges, Shin’s work reflects an intimate dialogue with the ocean—a space of connectivity and transformation. Her process traces the bodily gestures that transcend physical separations, enacting what Glissant might call a poetics of relation. In works like Pas de Deux and Holding Distance, Shin renders the ocean as both subject and collaborator, capturing its shifting currents as a metaphor for the ever-changing distance and connection between selves, while having her lived experience of migration as a point of departure. These works blur boundaries between the body and the natural world, as ocean water becomes a material through which care, longing, and the communion between bodies are inscribed.
Through the lens of Relation, Shin's practice can be seen as a form of translation—between different geographies, temporalities, and identities. Shin’s pieces resist fixed interpretation, inviting viewers into a space where memory, emotion, and geography converge. The ocean, in Shin’s hands, serves as a connector rather than a barrier, a site where cultures, bodies, and experiences overlap in an ongoing process of becoming.
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Soo Shin (b. 1981, Seoul) is an artist based in Chicago whose work poetically engages with the metaphysical dimensions of bodily presence and absence. Through an interdisciplinary practice that bridges sculpture, drawing, and sound, Shin employs a diverse range of materials—ceramic, brass, concrete, wood, and seawater—to evoke themes of corporeal connection, spatial displacement, and existential longing. Her artistic approach is deeply intertwined with her background in poetry, which serves as a foundation for her exploration of personal and collective narratives.
Shin’s career is distinguished by numerous prestigious residencies and fellowships, including the Djerassi Artist Residency, Woodside, CA; the Illinois Arts Council; and the Vilcek Foundation at MacDowell. Her work has been exhibited in prominent venues such as Patron Gallery, Goldfinch Gallery, and the Chicago Manual Style. Additional residencies at institutions including the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, Vermont Studio Center, Art Farm, and Ox-box have further shaped her artistic trajectory. She holds advanced degrees from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Ewha Womans University, Seoul, where her academic background in both MFA and BFA programs has significantly informed her conceptual and material approach to art.
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Opening Reception
The Luminary
October 11th, 2024
The opening reception, scheduled will offer a unique opportunity for visitors to engage directly with the artist and her deeply resonant works. This event, free and open to the public, marks the first of many free engagements throughout the duration of this exhibition.
The Poetics of Translation
The Luminary
November 16th, 2024 2pm
This workshop explores the art and challenge of translation as form, focusing on how language, culture, and meaning transform in the process. Drawing on Édouard Glissant's concept of Relation, participants will engage with experimental forms of poetic generation, emphasizing the idea that translation is not merely about fidelity but a process of creating connections across cultural and linguistic boundaries.
The Climate of Longing: metaphors of connection in the regulators and drivers of the Earth
The Luminary
December 14th, 4pm
Climate of Longing: Metaphors of Connection in the Regulators and Drivers of the Earth, is a discussion led by curator Kalaija Mallery with artists Haley Darya Parsa (New York, NY), and Christopher Willauer (Dayton, OH). The talk will explore themes of longing, distance, and the metaphor of connection through Earth's climate forces such as oceans and suns. This conversation delves into how these natural elements serve as both regulators and symbols in shaping our understanding of connection and separation.
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Title: A Place Between Leaving and Staying
Medium: Steel, artist’s hair, desert honeysuckle branch collected from a stranger’s garden in Marfa, TX
Dimensions: h7” w29” d19”
Year: 2021
Title: To Bear Songs of Two Shores
Medium: Cedar, stoneware, ocean water collected by the artist, Saint Gregorio, CA
Dimensions: h20” w23 ¾” d7”
Year: 2024
Title: Pas de Deux 3.15.2024 (Pacific Ocean) #5
Medium: paper, watercolor, seawater (San Gregorio Beach, CA)
Dimensions: h28” w21” (framed)
Year: 2024
Title: Pas de Deux 3.24.2024 (Pacific Ocean) #3
Medium: paper, watercolor, seawater (Ocean Beach, CA)
Dimensions: h28” w21” (framed)
Year: 2024
Title: Pas de Deux 3.13.2024 (Pacific Ocean) #6
Medium: paper, watercolor, seawater (Santa Maria Beach, CA)
Dimensions: h28” w21” (framed)
Year: 2024
Title: Pas de Deux 3.7.2024 (Pacific Ocean) #2
Medium: paper, watercolor, seawater (San Gregorio Beach, CA)
Dimensions: h28” w21” (framed)
Year: 2024
Title: Pas de Deux 3.19.2024 (Pacific Ocean) #1
Medium: paper, watercolor, seawater (Stinson Beach, CA)
Dimensions: h28” w21” (framed)
Year: 2024
Title: Pas de Deux 3.15.2024 (Pacific Ocean) #1
Medium: paper, watercolor, seawater (San Gregorio Beach, CA)
Dimensions: h28” w21” (framed)
Year: 2024
Title: Pas de Deux 3.21.2024 (Pacific Ocean) #2
Medium: paper, watercolor, seawater (Stinson Beach, CA)
Dimensions: h28” w21” (framed)
Year: 2024
Title: We, Dandelions #9
Medium: Iron, brass, artist frame with museum acrylic glass
Dimensions: H27” W15 ¼” D4” Year: 2023
On the Brim of (Place #9)
Medium: Steel, ceramic
Dimensions: h42” w24” d8”
Year: 2020
Holding Distance (Pacific Ocean, 9.22.2023)
Medium: Stoneware, ocean water collected by Alex K.
Dimensions: h15” w15” d4”
Year: 2024
Shore: Becoming You, 2024 (2nd edition)
Medium: Ceramic, metal, cast iron, sand, wood, sound (18mins 44sec in a loop)
Dimensions: W84” L96” H60”
Title: A Breath to Memory (Lauren's Feather)
Medium: Cedar, glass, fabric mesh, Blue Jay feather found at a cemetery in NJ in 2019Dimensions: h37 ½ " d9 ¾ " w5 ½ "
Year: 2021
exhibition documentation
