www.yinming.space
Part of your world, 2018
Video, 2 minutes 47 seconds
Still from video super-imposing, a miniature metal cart – filled with fish made from cotton stuffed muslin, painted in acrylic and gouache – over royalty free clips or surfer and big waves. The cart is about 2 feet in length and width and 3.5 feet in height. The title draws from the popular soundtrack of Disney animated film, ‘The Little Mermaid’.
Part of your world, 2018
Video, 2 minutes 47 seconds
Still from video super-imposing, a miniature metal cart – filled with fish made from cotton stuffed muslin, painted in acrylic and gouache – over royalty free clips or surfer and big waves. The cart is about 2 feet in length and width and 3.5 feet in height. The title draws from the popular soundtrack of Disney animated film, ‘The Little Mermaid’.
Happy new year ! 2019
Color pencil on Strathmore printmaking paper
10 inches by 8 inches
Translation: May every year be bountiful in fish, may every year be bountiful in fortune
Note on translation: The words for ‘bountiful in fish’ and ‘bountiful in fortune’ have the same pronunciation in Mandarin Chinese.
You must grow up nice and tall ! 2019
Color pencil on Strathmore printmaking paper
8 inches by 10 inches
Translation: Eat fish to improve memory, eat fish to grow tall
Note on translation: Due to the grammar structure of Chinese, it is ambiguous whether the fish is eaten or eats. Phrases can be read as ‘Fish eats to improve memory, fish eats to grow tall’
Once in a lifetime, 2019
Ceramic, acrylic, gouache, empty sardine can
3 inches by 3 inches by 8 inches
Wish me luck, 2019
Ceramic, acrylic, gouache
3 inches by 3 inches by 3 inches
I believe in you, I wish you good luck, 2019
Digital print
17 inches by 22 inches
I bet I could do better, 2019
Digital print
22 inches by 17 inches
I am currently looking at fish as a subject matter, using my personal narrative as entryway by investigating family and cultural sentiment. Inspiration is largely drawn from the family business that my parents started at the time I was born, supplying fish and shrimp products to mostly Asian restaurants and supermarkets in the Midwest. Language plays a crucial part in my work, allowing me to apply additional contextual elements in order to weave together the 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional forms I use to express fish. Using sculptures, installations, and drawings, I play with the different ways in which my Chinese culture and American culture interacts with fish as a symbol, a product, and a sport. I pay attention to the social and cultural implications surrounding the acts of eating fish, catching fish, and selling fish. I have mostly been focused on the language surrounding fish: proverbs, common sayings, and the mythologies drawn from Chinese culture. Due to the somewhat impulsive and investigative nature of my practice, I enjoy working with a wide range of mediums including ceramics, soft sculpture, illustration, and writing. Oftentimes, my sculptures and drawings naturally progress into or activate creation in other mediums such as video work and zine/prints, respectively. In most cases, my work operates with visual or literary humour, whether in its form or in the text surrounding the object.
