Hai-Wen Lin
they/them
Hai-Wen Lin is a Taiwanese-American artist whose work explores constructions of the body and its surrounding environment. They are an alumnus of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, previously a LeRoy Neiman Fellow at the Ox-Bow School of Art, and earned a Master of Design in Fashion, Body and Garment from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where they were selected as a Fashion Future Graduate by the CFDA upon graduating. Lin has published research on smart textiles and taught workshops at UC Davis, UC Berkeley, and MIT. They have performed publicly at the Chicago Cultural Center and MU Gallery, and have exhibited work in a variety of places including the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, 3S Artspace in New Hampshire, the Pittsburgh Glass Center, the walls of their home, their friend’s home, on a plate, on a lake, and in the sky.
“This is a practice that walks the motions of daily life and invites the company of naturally occurring phenomena. It is an act of reorienting, an attempt to attune one’s body to the environment, to unsettle static markers of identity, to offer instead the wind, sun, and sky as relational anchors to gather and situate oneself. Diasporic experiences and transness share this in common: they are experiences of being unmoored, of finding home in transit, of living within betweens. Fashion is a lens through which I consider how both our bodies and the thresholds between our bodies are constructed.”
"This piece is a necklace, kite reel, and key to the sky. My recent practice has consisted of designing a series of kites that are able to both be worn upon the body and be flown in the air. I’m interested in clothing as a threshold that stands between our bodies and the surrounding environment. What would it mean to extend this threshold? The kite line acts as both tether and passageway into this in-between space.
When I was young, my father would have me write wishes that would be flown up the kiteline and if they disappeared by the time the kites were reeled in, it meant the wish had been granted. I like to imagine that this nebulous space between body and sky is the realm in which wishes gather. It’s because of this story that I call this necklace a wishwinder. It is an object that both reels in and casts wishes.
It was important to make this kite reel into a jewelry piece because everything necessary to fly can then be carried upon the body. The world of wish fulfillment is literally at hand."
How does your work relate to the theme Adorned Serenity— How does the work function as a wearable safe space?
Wishwinder; enamel on copper, brass, wood, copper leaf, kite line; 4” × 6.5” × 0.5”; 2022
“This piece is for anyone to use. The vast expanse of the sky is one that we should all be able to gather under. However, not all skies are equal. I see this piece existing in places of the world where people have been trapped, unable to move, unable to escape, unable to live freely. My hope is that this piece would offer a sense of freedom and safety when carried: a reminder that there is always the sky above that can bridge us across worlds.”
How do you see this piece existing in the world as a wearable safe space?
Or is this piece specific to you?
“If you are currently wearing it, remove the necklace from around your neck. Go outside and feel the wind. Attach a kite to the end of the necklace and fly!”
