Jeena Shin
Reflection Reflected

Jeena Shin’s paintings play with the spaces created by an intricate mesh of woven lines. She uses meticulously crafted geometric planes with repeated patterns flipped and turned, derived from folded models, creating subtle intersecting layers which exploit light and shadow. Her work addresses two key elements in the practice of painting: light and tone.  By using a single colour, usually white or black and by varying the tone of a single colour the paintings have the ability to capture the modulating intensity of light. 

Since 2007, Jeena has completed a number of major site-specific projects where she has painted directly on the walls of our public galleries. Projects have included Wellington City Gallery, The Adam Art Gallery, Wellington, Te Tuhi Center for the Arts, Auckland, The Stairwell Project, Art Space, Auckland and most recently her largest work, a twenty-three metre long commission at Dunedin Public Art Gallery.  

In 2011 Shin was awarded the Artspace residency Korea, which enabled the artist to travel to Korea for a two-month residency at Changdong National Arts studio Seoul. 

These new works exhibited at Two Rooms were painted during Shin’s Korean Residency. The paintings are created by repeating a fold-model across the surface that Shin draws instinctively, accepting the transformative power of the variant or the chaotic in her unfolding system.^[1]The paintings introduce a new element, high gloss paint. Each of the fold-models is painted with one triangular shape in high gloss white so they shine brilliantly when viewed obliquely. From certain perspectives the sunlight defines the radiant triangles, while they fade away to nothingness when viewed from other positions.^[2]There is trickery with light reminiscent of OP Art. As the light moves over the surface, the painting flickers, pulsates and expands.  The artist is playing with our sensory perception. Many of the white shades in Shin’s paintings cannot be captured by photography and even the human eye relies on variance in natural light to render visible some parts of the paintings at certain times of day.^[3]

Born in Seoul, Korea, Jeena Shin graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Auckland in 1997 and received a Masters of Fine Arts from RMIT Melbourne in 2000. She lives and works in Auckland 

Recent projects include: 

Fractus 2011, Dunedin Public Art gallery, Fractus 2009,Te Tuhi Center for the Arts, Fractus 2009, Adam Art Gallery ARTSPACE Stairwell Project (1973-) 2009-2011, ARTSPACE, Auckland; Yo Modernism II, 2009, CCNOA, Brussels, Belgium; Prospect 2007: New Art New Zealand, City Gallery Wellington, 2007.

ARTSPACE RESIDENCY KOREA 2011

Jeena Shin would like to thankArtspace, AUT, Asia New Zealand FoundationandCreative New Zealandfor the Two-month residency at Changdong National Arts Studio, Seoul hosted by The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea.

^{[1]2 3}Volume 2, 2011, The Stairwell as Stage: Jeena Shin’s Artspace Stairwell project, Janine Randerson, pg.10. Pg.11.