Carey Lin

Colored pencil on paper, 9” x 12” or 12” x 9”, 2019–2020

Selections from a solo exhibition of new paintings at ampersand international arts in San Francisco. More info here.

Just Say When

September 15 - October 13, 2017

Opening Reception: Friday, September 15, 6-9pm

Gallery Hours: Thursdays and Fridays, 12-5pm or by appointment

ampersand international arts, 1001 Tennessee Ave. (between 20th and 22nd streets), San Francisco, CA

Residency and exhibition at Irving Street Projects, San Francisco. July-September 2016. 

Paintings of my palette made in real time. 

Work Surfaces at the Wassaic Project. Oil on panel, 2016. 

Someone I know recently ate, Site-specific installation at Martina }{ Johnston Gallery, Berkeley, CA, 2014.

"Someone I know recently ate" is an installation comprised of a series of paintings hung on custom made wallpaper for the group exhibition Working on It - Part I at Martina }{ Johnston Gallery. The piece is a series of visual responses to snapshots and brief descriptions of meals and snacks individually consumed by gallery co-directors Farley Gwazda and Indira Morre and communicated via emails and text messages over the course of 6 weeks. The project investigates the significance of soliciting personal, yet mundane information from others as a source for art-making and explores new approaches to producing site-specific work based on this exchange.

More info here.

You Have No Idea (About My Idea), Installation view from What's Going On (feat. 4 Non Blondes), 2-person show w/ Bonanza.

tmoro projects, Santa Clara, CA

"You Have No Idea (About My Idea)" is an installation of paintings and objects created for What's Going On (feat. 4 Non Blondes) a 2-person exhibition of new works by Carey Lin and Bonanza centered on the functions of different workspaces at tmoro projects. Carey Lin’s practice highlights the space of the studio as a subject for art­making and examines painting as a self­-reflexive process. Bonanza’s work considers the site as a type of flex space with pieces that literally bend, bow, and curve into pose. Taken together, this exhibition focuses on both the physical and mental process of “working it out”. A free, limited edition Colpa Press Risograph print with writing by Suzanne L’Heureux accompanied this exhibition.

Time to Party (UR Sweet), 2015, Root Division, San Francisco, CA.

A two- and three-dimensional environment that explores the space of the studio as a subject for art-making using site-specific painting, installation, printmaking and sculpture. This piece considers the intersection of abstraction and representation and the conceptual underpinnings of an object-based studio practice. This is the most recent iteration of my ongoing investigation of the painting process through cyclical self-reflexive exercises.

Somebody's idea of a good time, 2011.

Series of paintings based on found work surfaces at Ox-Bow artists residency, Saugatuck, MI. 

And what have you
August 28 - October 9, 2013
Tartine Bakery, San Francisco, CA

This project investigates the detritus and interstitial elements of San Francisco's Tartine Bakery. Working remotely from imagery contributed by their staff, I created a series of 17 paintings that track specific parts of the bakery and cafe over the course of 12 weeks. These 'time lapse portraits' document behind-the-scenes work areas and public spaces, capturing minutiae like kitchen supplies in storage containers, custom order forms awaiting fulfillment, wastebasket debris left by Tartine patrons, and computer spreadsheets of weekly baking schedules. Together the paintings consider the everyday ebb and flow of the bakery and draw forth some aspects that are usually overlooked.

Site-specific installation at Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland, CA. For Bay Area Currents, 2015. Curated by Christina Linden.

Paintings of the kitchen sink at Macarthur B Arthur Gallery in Oakland, CA. Created for the final show at the gallery, The Home Show, 2012. 

1. Use the studio. 2. Sweep the studio floor. 3. Make a painting of what is swept up. 3. Discard source material. 4. Repeat. 

Paintings based on internet image search results for compulsive hoarding.

A series of paintings created for a 2-person exhibition with Greg Ito at Truesilver Gallery (now Goodnight Projects) in San Francisco's Noe Valley neighborhood. Imagery is based on areas of both the gallery and residential living space surrounding it. What can('t) you tell about a space from the objects found within it? What can('t) you know about people by looking at the things in their space?