About the artist

Yen Qin 燕琴 is the ceramic practice of Georgina Yen Qin Lee, a ceramic artist based in Naarm (Melbourne) Australia.

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Yen Qin bio

Georgina Yen Qin Lee uses the medium of ceramics as a conduit to reconnect with her Southern Chinese and South East Asian ancestral roots while exploring her lived experience growing up as an Asian woman in Australia.

Combining wheel thrown, hand-manipulated forms with complex surface treatments, her works address themes of cultural shame and reverence whilst making sense of the ‘third cultural space’ in which she occupies.

Georgina’s connection with ceramics goes beyond its materiality and artistic expression; it is also rooted in the medium’s historical and cultural contexts. In researching the significance of ceramics in her culture, Georgina unearths stories and ancestral customs lost over centuries of her family’s diaspora.

Georgina’s practice engages with the potential of cultural exchange and amalgamation, exploring the power of objects to transcend differences and foster understanding. Her works extend an invitation to viewers to participate in their own cultural rediscovery, creating a space that celebrates heritage and cultural identity within contemporary life.

 

Curriculum Vitae

Selected Exhibitions

2024

TABLED, curated by The Association of Ceramics Australia, Manly Art Gallery & Museum and Peter Gilmore

Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Sydney

2023

Everybody’s Heard of a Dragon, curated by James Lemon and Bobby Corica
Craft Victoria, Melbourne

Tracing Change, Modern Times, Melbourne

The Vessel Project, Craft Victoria, Melbourne

July featured artists, Bouvardia, Melbourne

2022

It’s Not Just Blue,
Craft Victoria, Melbourne

A Gentle Unwinding,
Modern Times, Melbourne

Reclaim, Brunswick Street Gallery,
Craft Contemporary, Melbourne

Concurrence, Warrandyte Pottery,
Craft Contemporary, Melbourne

EMERGE: Tenth Edition,
Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne

1000 Vases, Galerie Joseph,
78 Rue de Turenne, Paris

Clay Connected, Melbourne Design Week,
1280 Gallery, Melbourne

Small Works Art Prize 2022,
Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne

2021

Winter Exhibition, Thrown Contemporary,
London, United Kingdom

2014

FAUX MUSEUM, c3 contemporary art space, curated by Melissa Loughnan, Anusha Kenny, Kate Tucker and Ace Wagstaff

Nothing’s Happened Since Yesterday
with Kenny Pittock, curated by Naima Morelli, Galleria 291 Est, San Lorenzo, Rome, Italy

SUB12, The Substation, Newport, curated by Will Foster, with Liz Dunn, Lara Thoms, Arlo Mountford, Rowan McNaught, Laresa Kosloff, Jessie Bullivant, Charlie Sofo, Isadora Vaughan, Agnes So, Dylan Hammond, Travis Englefield

Artworks and Exchanges, with Kate Just, Monte Masi, et al. An exhibition as part of the international conference on socially engaged art: Spectres of Evaluation, Footscray Community Arts Centre and Incinerator Gallery.

Business As Usual,
Bus Projects, Collingwood

Campus,
George Paton Gallery, Parkville, curated by Alison Lasek

 

Artistic and technical development

2022

4-day Intensive Masterclass with Malcolm Greenwood, NSW Advancing Glazes (12-week online course), Ceramic Materials Workshop

From the Ground Up, Masterclass with Damon Moon, Federation University

Understanding Glazes (12-week online course), Ceramics Materials Workshop

2021-2022

Studio Program with Neville French, School of Clay and Art (SoCA), VICBOARD POSITIONS (ARTS)

2020

Board Observer, Lucy Guerin Inc, VIC

2012-2017

Treasurer and Board Member, Bus Projects, VIC

 

Education

2012

Graduate Diploma in Arts (Art History),University of Melbourne

Graduate Certificate in Visual Art,Victorian College of the Arts

2006

Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering (Hons) / Bachelor of Commerce, Monash University