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ABOUT
Carey Lin is a visual artist based in San Francisco, California. She earned her M.F.A. at the University of Chicago and her B.A. from New College of Florida. Aside from her individual studio practice, Lin co-founded Stairwell’s, a social practice project with site-specific programs in the Bay Area and beyond. She frequently collaborates with Gabriel Gilder, visit LIN+GILDER Projects for more info. To-date, her work has taken the form of drawing, painting, installation, ceramics, games, walking tours, video, animation, sound compositions, and more.
Lin’s work has been presented at Millennium Film Workshop (NY), Personal Space (Vallejo, CA), Berkeley Art Center, The Good Ship Dodo (SF), Palo Alto Art Center, Bass & Reiner Gallery (SF), Artists’ Television Access (SF), Roxie Theater (SF), Marrow Gallery (SF), ampersand international arts (SF), Screen Share Video Gallery (Chicago), Tropical Contemporary (Eugene, OR), Root Division (SF), Aggregate Space Gallery (Oakland), tmoro projects (Santa Clara), City College of San Francisco, Martina }{ Johnston Gallery (Berkeley), Interface Gallery (Oakland), Tartine Bakery (SF), Macarthur B Arthur Gallery (Oakland), Truesilver Gallery (SF), Zughaus (Berkeley), Hyde Park Art Center (Chicago), Samsøn Projects (Boston), DOVA Temporary (Chicago), and more.
Carey Lin has been artist-in-residence at the Wassaic Project (NY), Vermont Studio Center, Ox-Bow (Saugatuck, MI), Hayes Valley Art Works (SF), Wave Pool (Cincinnati, OH), Opossum House (Eugene, OR) and at Irving Street Projects in San Francisco’s Outer Sunset district.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My studio practice is broadly based on an affinity for play, chance, and experimentation. I enjoy contributing to open-ended and collaborative projects. Some ongoing interests include self-reflexive processes and “impossible tasks,” such as attempting to paint realistic portraits of my paint palette while using the paint on the palette itself to paint with. A work-in-progress (that will never be complete) is a long list in the Notes app on my phone called “Weird Ideas to Pursue or Do Nothing With”. I have been adding to this list for almost 2 decades, and the only rule is that no idea is too absurd to be included.
Since 2020, I have been focusing on paintings and drawings that explore free form interactions between color, pattern, geometry and abstraction. These compositions reference city maps, nets, rollercoasters, landscapes seen from different angles, textiles, creature-like shapes, microscopic life forms and more.
CV
Carey Lin
b. Florida, USA; Lives & works in San Francisco, California
Education
M.F.A. University of Chicago; B.A. New College of Florida
Projects, Exhibitions, Festivals
2026
I have considered the lilies, or, Everything is fine and alright forever, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA
Mother of Collaboration 2, The Good Ship Dodo, San Francisco, CA ***
Small Audio Art — “Kitchen Sink” edition (“Normal Wash”) *
2025
Official Selection (“Lift and Oscillate”), VIDEOAKTION #6, Berlin, Germany *
Official Selection (“Lift and Oscillate”), Glen Park Short Film Festival, San Francisco, CA *
XMTR Audio Arts Festival — with Small Audio Art (“The Cat Says It In His Language”), St. Leonards-on-Sea, UK *
Exquisite Corpse (“Lift and Oscillate”), Millennium Film Workshop, New York, NY *
Small Audio Art — “Pictures” edition (“The Cat Says It In His Language”) *
Pyramid Scheme 2, Bass & Reiner Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Official Selection (“Lift and Oscillate”), West Virginia Mountaineer Short Film Festival, Morgantown, WV *
Almaty Underground Screening Series (“Just Say When”), 101 Dump Gallery, Almaty, Kazakhstan *
2024
Flights of Fancy, Barbara D. Goodman Art Gallery, Dominican University of California, San Rafael, CA
Selections from the 2024 WV Mountaineer Short Film Festival, Laura and Paul Mesaros Galleries, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV *
What's Cookin'? Art about food, culture and community, Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA *
Noonan Building Artists, Building 12, Pier 70, San Francisco, CA
Helping Heads, Personal Space, Vallejo, CA ***
Official Selection (Selected Findings), West Virginia Mountaineer Short Film Festival, West Virginia University School of Art and Design, Morgantown, WV *
Bernal Open, Four Chicken Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2023
Official Selection (“Roundabout”), Persian Independent Experimental Short Film Festival, Tehran, Iran *
APAture 2023 Visual Arts Showcase, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA *
Pyramid Scheme, Bass & Reiner Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Noonan Building Artists, Daily Driver, San Francisco, CA
2022
Vehicles of Concern, Your Mood Gallery, San Francisco, CA *
2021
Official Selection (“Shelter in Play”), 4th San Francisco Short Film Festival, Roxie Theater, San Francisco, CA *
This Is Where We Are Right Now, Eighth Annual International Video Open Call, Aggregate Space Gallery, Oakland, CA *
Playground, Marrow Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2020
Not Just for Show Telethon and Variety Show (for Stairwell’s), Wave Pool, Cincinnati, OH *
2019
X Marks the Steps Stairwell’s Field Trip, Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco, CA *
Hidden Waters Stairwell’s Field Trip, The Walk Discourse, San Francisco, CA *
Official Selection (“Getting Into Shapes”), GAZE Animation Spectacular IV, Artists’ Television Access, San Francisco, CA *
Official Selection (“Getting Into Shapes”) Third Annual Aggregate Animated Shorts Festival, Aggregate Animated Shorts, Aggregate Space Gallery, Oakland, CA *
2018
Share Video Gallery, Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, University of Chicago *
Keys to the City Stairwell’s Field Trip, San Francisco Arts Commission Galleries *
Serious Business, Tropical Contemporary, Eugene, OR
California Walkscapes (Listen Lab Sound Club), Incline Gallery, San Francisco, CA *
Political Birthdays, Dream Farm Commons, Oakland, CA
In the Classroom: Social Justice Posters, Rosenberg Library, City College of San Francisco Goodnight, Goodnight, Goodnight Projects, San Francisco, CA
DONUT DEPOT III (storefront installation), Jenny Lemons, San Francisco, CA
2017
Just Say When (solo show), ampersand international arts, San Francisco, CA
Bling Blang, You Bring the Hammer, I’ll Bring a Nail: Artworkers in Southeast SF, Madeleine Haas Russell Gallery, Rosenberg Library, City College of San Francisco
Morphing Spaces, SFMOMA Museum Offices, San Francisco, CA
Class Set (commissioned poster project), San Francisco Bay Area
DONUT DEPOT II (storefront installation), Little Paper Planes, San Francisco, CA
2016
Nobody Said Not To (solo show), Irving Street Projects, San Francisco, CA
Palette, ampersand international arts, San Francisco, CA
Hole History: Origins of the American-Style Donut, Win Wilder Hall + Asymmetrick Arts, Rockland, ME
PRETZEL PARTY (storefront installation), Little Paper Planes, San Francisco, CA
2015
Resonate (for Stairwell’s), Root Division, San Francisco, CA **
ColorSpace, Zoo Labs, Oakland, CA
Stairwell’s at Wave Pool, Wave Pool, Cincinnati, OH **
First Person Once Removed (Bay Area Currents), Pro Arts, Oakland, CA
Still Life, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
What’s Going On? (feat. 4 Non Blondes), (2-person show with Bonanza), tmoro projects, Santa Clara, CA
2014
DONUT DEPOT (storefront installation), Little Paper Planes, San Francisco, CA
Survival Adaptations, Aggregate Space Gallery, Oakland, CA **
Thank You For Failing!, Kearny Street Workshop/Asian Resource Center, Oakland, CA
WORKING ON IT, Martina }{ Johnston Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2013
& what have you (solo show), Tartine Bakery, San Francisco, CA
Just Make Something, Interface Gallery, Oakland, CA **
There is no telling what (2-person show with Greg Ito), Truesilver Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2012
The Home Show, Macarthur B Arthur Gallery, Oakland, CA
Inspiration Station, Little Paper Planes, San Francisco, CA
2011
Hypothesis: An Art/Science Fair (collaboration with Wayne Grim), The Lab, San Francisco, CA
Hardly nothing to do without (solo show), Royal NoneSuch Gallery, Oakland, CA
No way that's it (solo show), Zughaus Gallery, Berkeley, CA
Experimental Notations (collaboration with Wayne Grim), Royal NoneSuch Gallery & Macarthur B Arthur Gallery, Oakland, CA
X Marks a Spot, NOMA Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Chain Letter, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles, CA & Samson Projects, Boston, MA
2010
That's a crystal ball that nobody has (2-person show with Sarah Hotchkiss), Zughaus Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2010: A Selection from a Decade of Painting, DOVA Temporary, Chicago, IL
2009
WISH U WHERE HERE, Zughaus Gallery, Berkeley, CA
Untitled (Field Work), O'Connor Gallery, Dominican University, Chicago, IL
2008
Some Things (solo show), DOVA Temporary, Chicago, IL
2007
There (Part I), Three Walls SOLO, Chicago, IL
There (Part II), Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL
Panels & Lectures
2025
Grant Panelist, General Operating Support, California Arts Council
2020
Juror, Fourth Annual Aggregate Animated Shorts Festival, Aggregate Space Gallery, Oakland, CA
2018
Precipice Fund, Round 6 (selection panel juror), PICA, Portland, OR
Professional Practice (visiting artist lecture), Pacific Northwest College of Design, Portland, OR
2016
TV Club - Out of this World (artist lecture), Royal NoneSuch Gallery, Oakland, CA
Work in Public (visiting artist lecture), California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA
2014
Open City/Art City, Institute for the Future and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (panel discussion), San Francisco, CA
Topophilia (visiting artist lecture), California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA
2013
Conversations on Sculpture: Alternative Space (guest lecture), Sculpture Department, California College of the Arts, Oakland, CA
Thoughtluck (panel discussion), The Lab, San Francisco, CA
DWoW: L'esprit de l'escalier (lecture), DiverseWorks, Houston, TX
2012
Question and Answer Lab (lecture), Queens Nails Projects, San Francisco, CA
Awards & Residencies
2019
Audience Choice “Best Sound Design” (for Getting Into Shapes), Third Annual Aggregate Animated Shorts, Oakland, CA
2018
Intersect SF Grant (for Stairwell’s), Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
Artist Residency, Opossum House, Eugene, OR
2017
Creative Capacity Fund Quick Grant, Center for Cultural Innovation, CA
Fellowship Semifinalist, The Lighthouse Works, Fishers Island, NY
2016
Artist Residency, Hayes Valley Art Works (for Stairwell’s), San Francisco, CA
Artist Residency, Irving Street Projects, San Francisco, CA
Artist Residency, The Wassaic Project, Wassaic, NY
Artist Residency, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
2015
Artist Residency (for Stairwell’s), The Wassaic Project, Wassaic, NY
Art Space is Your Space Residency (for Stairwell’s), Wave Pool, Cincinnati, OH
2014
Oakland Stock (for Stairwell's), Oakland, CA
2013
LPP+ Residency (for Stairwell's), Little Paper Planes, San Francisco, CA
2012
SECA Art Award Nominee, SECA (Society for the Encouragement of Contemporary Art), SFMOMA, San Francisco, CA
2011
Alternative Exposure Grant (for Stairwell's), Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
Tournesol Award Semifinalist, Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA
2010
Artist Residency, Ox-Bow School of Art, Saugatuck, MI
2008
Artist Residency, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
2007
Teaching Fellowship, Division of the Humanities, University of Chicago
Graduate Fellowship, Division of the Humanities, University of Chicago
* collaboration with Gabriel Gilder; ** collaboration with Sarah Hotchkiss; *** collaboration with Weston Gilder-Lin