Lili Chin, “Crossing,” September 22 – November 3, 2023

Each year Buffalo Arts Studio invites up to three artists to participate in our artist-in-residence program. Artists-in-residence are selected based on the way(s) their practice fits within the Buffalo Arts Studio curatorial vision as well as their relevance to the larger exhibitions, panel discussions, and workshops. For the 2023/24 season, BAS is presenting Safe Space, an exhibition, workshop, film, and community forum series that will foster the creation of new work that critically addresses issues of racial and representational justice while providing a safe space for diverse artists to work and exhibit. It reflects the belief that artists and curators can effect change through collaborations that balance community needs with artistic insight. 

For the 2023/24 Artist-in-Residence, curator Shirley Verrico has selected Lili Chin (Manhattan, NY), a multimedia artist who creates time-based installations that investigate the flexibility of memory, ritual, and spirituality. Chin’s exhibition, Crossing, will follow a residency at BAS from August 17-28, 2023. Chin will explore waterways around Buffalo, including the Buffalo River, Lake Erie, the St. Lawrence River, and the Erie Canal by foot and bicycle. Chin will also research the waterways using scientific diagrams and bathymetric imaging of the sea and lake bed, to create a body of work that involves ceramics, fresco, weaving, and 16mm film. This body of work originally began in Rochester in 2022 where Chin explored toxicity in the water due to legacy contamination and traveled to Scotland and discovered nuclear submarines in Loch Long in Argyll and Bute. Chin continues this investigation, traveling to Galveston to research the influence of the petrochemical industry in the Ship Channel from the Gulf of Mexico to Houston. 

Chin will bring these encounters with waterways to Buffalo, honing on Lake Erie and ships that would travel in and out of Buffalo to transport grain for the rest of the country in the 19th century. Chin will create paperclay forms to suspend in the gallery, using textures and materials that are gathered near the lake and the Niagara River. She will also explore the parkways in Buffalo, comparing the natural resources available in Buffalo to the geology in the area. This residency will yield a multi-media body of work that encompasses fresco, ceramic, 16mm film, and weaving to meditate on industry, landscape, and environment in Buffalo, New York, all of which will be on display at Buffalo Arts Studio September 22-November 3, 2023.

Lili Chin is a visual artist based in New York City. An artist with global roots in Oregon and Singapore, she folds her intrepid experiences into site based and multi-media work that incorporates natural materials, ceramic, fresco, weaving, and film to mine personal and historical narratives. She has exhibited at The Drawing Center, NY, Below Grand, NY, Microscope Gallery, NY, Bronx River Art Center, NY, STPI Gallery in Singapore, as well as several other art organizations in the US, Scotland, Latin America, Europe, Japan, and China. She has created commissioned installations for the He Xiangning Museum in Shenzhen and the Ely Center of Contemporary Art, CT and her work is part of the White Columns Artist Registry. She has received fellowships from MacDowell, Visual Studies Workshop, the Akiyoshidai International Art Village and attended residencies at Mass MoCA, Swatch Art Peace Hotel, Cove Park, BRIC, and the Galveston Artist Residency. She received her MFA from the University of California San Diego, her BFA from Pratt Institute, and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.

Part of Buffalo Arts Studio’s Artist-in-Residence program in partnership with 321 Residence.