Cairo Dwek left behind her life as a model in Los Angeles to pursue her aspiration of becoming a fine artist.
"Memory over reality" Crys Yin's reinvented childhood
March 24, 2017 12:00 PM
Brushing eyes, combing toenails, flossing knees, and buying butts at the supermarket. Artist Crys Yin imagines these absurd situations in order to bring her childhood memories into the current issues and corporate woes affecting her adulthood.
After realizing her work in creative, but corporate, roles was unfulfilling, Crys decided to embrace her art, turning it into a full-time job. Her work consists of childhood-inspired elements and references to corporate society, and she explains these motivations saying that, “Recalling the themes of my childhood– sexual curiosity, shame, cultural oppression– has pushed me to explore the reoccurring topics of my adulthood– obsession and compulsion, the archaic definition of female and male roles, and the excitement of excess.” Using almost exclusively pale and soft tones, round shapes, and comical scenes, Crys’ work can be easily mistaken for an illustrated children’s book upon first glance, until a closer look reveals the profound depth of her paintings. Daily situations are twisted and reinterpreted to reveal personal moments, often tragic or awkward to the artist.
“I prefer referencing memory over reality,” Crys explains. Freeing herself from the truth and focusing on representations, Crys expresses herself through memories reimagined in her paintings and sculptures. The accuracy does not matter because it is not about reality. Rather, it is about introspective understanding, and it is about art.
In her most recent project, Crys creates still-life pieces from meaningful objects related to her Asian American culture. After her family immigrated from Taiwan to the United States in the early 70’s, Crys was born and raised in Southern California. She now lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she tells the story of her cultural education, “swapping shadows causes uncertainty and repeating objects further demonstrates the cultural misconnections I experienced growing up.”
INSTAGRAM @crysyin
WRITTEN BY LOUISE GUILLOT
EDITED BY HOLLIS DE LANEY
PHOTO CREDIT: CRYS YIN
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